Press & Media – I Was a Paid Propagandist
ABOUT
I Was a Paid Propagandist is a feature-length documentary directed by Emmy-winning filmmaker Joe Tripician and produced by Amira Kudumović. The film follows Tripician’s return to the Balkans 25 years after he was hired to write an official biography for Croatia’s authoritarian president, Franjo Tudjman. What began as a professional opportunity gradually became a moral reckoning, as the project revealed attempts to shape a sanitized historical narrative for Western audiences. Through interviews, archival footage, animation, and present-day investigation, the documentary explores how propaganda is created, normalized, and sustained long after conflicts end. Tripician’s personal story becomes a lens for examining the broader struggle over historical memory, disinformation, and accountability in the aftermath of the Balkan wars and in contemporary political discourse.
Meet the Filmmakers
Joe Tripician, Director, Producer
Winner of an Emmy for Best Documentary, Joe Tripician is a Producer, Writer, Director, a Playwright, Performer, and a Published Author with over 45 years of professional experience in film, TV, and digital production.
His films have been broadcast and exhibited across America, Europe, and Japan, have shown at the Cannes Film Festival, and are part of the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
His film awards include Emmy for Best Documentary of Cultural Significance, Best Short Documentary at the Uranium Film Festival, Winner at The Mill Valley Film Festival, The Chicago International Film Festival, and The Montreal International Film Festival.
He has also exhibited internationally in galleries and major museums including: The Guggenheim Museum (New York City), The Whitney Museum of American Art (National Tour), The Laforet Museum (Tokyo), and The Museum of Modern Art (Paris).
Joe’s most recent film, Honeymoon in Oak Ridge, is an award-winning documentary that reveals his parents’ work in the creation of the first atom bomb. The film is available for streaming on Docsville.com.
Amira Kudumović, Producer
Amira Kudumović is a producer with over 12 years of experience producing feature films, documentaries, and TV series. Her production company, Scena, based in Sarajevo, is well-respected and admired for producing and delivering high-quality content on schedule and under budget.
She has produced six feature films, both narrative and documentary, in addition to six TV episodes. Amira has been a jurist on a number of European film festivals.
Amira graduated in 1987 from the Academy of Performing Arts, production department (Film, Television, and Theatre), in Bosnia and Herzegovina. After graduating, she completed her interdisciplinary master's degree study in Belgrade in "Cultural policy and management." She is currently on doctoral studies in Theory of Arts and Media at the University of Arts in Belgrade. Since 2010 she has been teaching at the Academy of Performing Arts in Belgrade, in the production department. She is a member of the Filmmakers Association of BiH and of the European Film Academy.
Interviewees (Selected)
The film features interviews with diplomats, historians, journalists, legal experts, and human-rights advocates connected to the political history of the Balkans and the legacy of the 1990s conflicts. Participants include:
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Peter Galbraith -- Former U.S. Ambassador to Croatia
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Muhamed Sacirbey -- Former Bosnian Ambassador and Foreign Minister
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Kenneth Scott -- Special Prosecutor, International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
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Prof. Eric Gordy -- University College London
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Robert M. Hayden -- University of Pittsburgh
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Hrvoje Klasić -- Historian, University of Zagreb
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Ivo Goldstein -- Historian, University of Zagreb
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Anto Nobilo -- Croatian defense attorney
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Peggy Kuo -- U.S. Federal Magistrate Judge
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Valery Perry -- Democratization Policy Council
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Bakira Hasečić -- Association of Women Victims of War
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Akif Agić -- Bosnian journalist and war reporter
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Dr. Jasmin Medić -- University of Sarajevo
These voices contribute historical context, legal analysis, and personal testimony to the film’s exploration of propaganda and historical memory.
Film details
Title: I Was a Paid Propagandist
Format: Feature-length documentary
Director: Joe Tripician
Producer: Amira Kudumović
Language: English
Country: United States / Bosnia and Herzegovina
Genre: Documentary / Political / Personal / Investigative
Status: Post-production
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