The Croatian director and author of grand historical spectacles will be the honorary guest at the festival in Ika, where on August 21 and 22 he will discuss the creation of series such as 'Croatian Kings' and 'The Age of Uskoks.'
This year's Liburnicon, a festival held on August 21 and 22, 2026, in Ika, will host one of Croatia's most prominent authors of historical docudrama projects. The honorary guest will be Božidar Domagoj Burić, a director, screenwriter, composer, and television author whose works have left a mark on domestic production of grand historical spectacles.
Burić's arrival was announced on Tuesday, August 11, and his appearance fits perfectly with this year's festival theme, "Outlaws." It is precisely the characters who live on the fringes of empires and laws, such as warriors, pirates, and border guards, that are a key part of Burić's creative output, especially highlighted in the series "The Age of Uskoks."
The central event of Burić's visit will be a special conversation titled "How Does History Become an Epic Story?" In the company of his interlocutor, Robert Kurelić, the author will bring the audience closer to the creative process behind his most famous projects for Croatian Radiotelevision. Among these, the series "Croatian Kings," "Republic," "The Age of Uskoks," and the current spectacle "Diocletian" stand out.
The conversation will also touch on key questions that permeate Burić's work: where does historical fact end and legend begin, how do heroes and their adversaries come to life, and why are outlaws and those who defy established rules so appealing to audiences? The audience will hear firsthand how real historical figures and events become grand television stories.
A special segment of the meeting will be dedicated to the creative and production challenges of creating historical spectacles in Croatia. Burić will discuss the demanding research, reconstructions of historical periods, and the blending of documentary and dramatic approaches that characterize his projects. Visitors to Liburnicon will thus have the opportunity to peek behind the scenes of crafting stories about rulers, warriors, and people from the borderlands of different worlds.
Burić's work, as the organizers point out, demonstrates that history is not just a source of facts but also a space for powerful human stories, conflicts, and characters that can rival the protagonists of fantastical worlds. Through its various programs, the festival will explore the world of outlaws and rebels, and Burić's appearance represents one of the programs that connects history, film, television, and fantasy.
