Symposar Sarajevo

"Toni Kukoč - The Magical Seven" is about a young man from Split who, with his basketball knowledge, professionalism and unique style of play, won the basketball world in the late 1980s and 1990s. In those years, Toni Kukoč became Europe's most popular basketball player and was also officially voted the best player of the old continent four times. The journey from Split, from elementary school to winning an NBA ring and sharing the locker room with the greatest basketball player of all time, Michael Jordan, is a story about growing up, fellowship, and socializing with generations that only knew about winning during those years. He played and won Olympic medals for two countries, Yugoslavia and Croatia. Regardless of his incredible sports results, what sets Toni Kukoč apart is his behavior off the field, his modesty and his sincerity.

The author of the film about the “coach of all coaches” and the celebrated coach of the ‘Vatreni’, who won bronze with Croatia at the World Cup in France in 1998, is Bosnian-Herzegovinian sports commentator Sabahudin Topalbećirević. Those who feature in the film include former players Davor Šuker, Robert Jarni and Aljoša Asanović, but also Bosnian-Herzegovinian national team players Edin Džeko and Miralem Pjanić, as well as many others. The film begins with a look back at Ćiro’s childhood, reminiscing about the difficult days of growing up in Travnik during World War II, and some sad and tragic moments in his life, and then experiences a twist by highlighting his famous playing and coaching days on football fields in Switzerland, former Yugoslavia, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.