Fiume o morte! How much Fascism?
Fiume o morte!, a co-production by Croatia, Italy, and Slovenia, is a cinematically skillful film about Rijeka's occupation. It was declared the best European documentary of 2025. The film centers on the Italian proto-fascist Gabriele D’Annunzio’s occupation of Rijeka, which lasted from September 1919 to January 1921. Director Igor Bezinović employs unique techniques, blending feature documentary elements with a film about the process of filming. Preparations for shooting become part of the film itself, as Bezinović, often the narrator, gives instructions to the amateur actors, turning these interactions into an integral part of the documentary.
Bezinović uses interesting visual techniques. A good part of the film’s material is photographs from that time. In the film, we learn that during the occupation of the city of Rijeka, D’Annunzio’s photography section took over 10,000 photographs. The film is a re-enactment of this documentary material.
Katarina Peović
Katarina Peović is an Professor at Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Cultural Studies in Rijeka (Croatia). She teaches graduate, postgraduate and doctoral seminars on cultural theory. She holds a BA and master’s degree in Comparative literature and MA and PhD of Faculty of Philosophy Zagreb. She earned her doctorate (under the super vision of N. Katherine Hayles) in 2010 on the problems of new media literacy.