Waiting for the Train
by Armin Čulić
Čakam na vlak, 2025, fiction, digital DCP, 2,00:1, 25, c, 8 min
SI
Finished
At the railway station in Jesenice, Samir waits for a train he hopes will bring his father back from the war in Bosnia. It is 1992. Yugoslavia is collapsing, and the news reaching Slovenia is devastating . When Samir’s mother is told that her son is suspected of vandalism at the station, the day gradually opens into a landscape of grief, anger, and unspoken truths. Their return to the station leads to a confrontation in which the accusation becomes a catalyst for uncovering a painful truth about Samir’s absent father.
Armin Čulić (1995) is a graduate film directing student at the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television (AGRFT) in Ljubljana. In 2017 and 2022, he took part in the screenwriting workshop Kratka scena, and in 2023 he participated in the international Talent Short Film Lab, held in several modules, including in Cannes. Waiting for the Train is his first short fiction film as a director.
I was born shortly after the Yugoslav wars, and visits to relatives in Bosnia and Herzegovina were raw and emotional. I learned about sorrow early on, but also about the solidarity of people shaped by war. I grew up in an apartment block in Jesenice, where people were not divided by origin or religion. My best friend was Serbian; we never argued about the war, but we often clashed over basketball players.
Founded in 2016, Rusaalka is an independent Slovenian production company focused on bold, auteur-driven cinema and television. Working with emerging filmmakers and international partners, it produces socially engaged documentaries and fiction that explore urgent contemporary themes. Through intimate storytelling, the company promotes values of openness, empathy and tolerance, encouraging deeper understanding of others and a more attentive relationship to nature.