Skip to content
BiH Atlas
1969 · Bitka na Neretvi

The Battle of Neretva

In 1943, Axis forces surround Partisan troops and thousands of wounded soldiers near the Neretva River in Bosnia. The Partisans execute a legendary tactic by blowing up the Neretva bridge.

Academy Award nomineeWarDramaEpic
Director
Veljko Bulajić
Writers
not recorded
Cast
Yul Brynner, Orson Welles, Franco Nero, Ljubiša Samardžić, Bata Živojinović, Milena Dravić
Production
Yugoslavia (Bosna Film) · Italy · West Germany · USA · 175 min

Awards and recognition

  • ★Academy Award nominee, Best Foreign Language Film (42nd Academy Awards, 1970)

Context

One of the most expensive Yugoslav productions ever made, filmed largely on location in Bosnia. Pablo Picasso designed a poster for the film.

Filming locations

  • Jablanica & Neretva River Canyon
    Herzegovina-Neretva Canton

    Historic site of the Neretva River bridge destruction in Jablanica, filmed with epic military scale.

Sources and verification

Awards verified 2026-09-11 against festival and academy records; unverifiable claims were removed rather than kept.