Ivana Ivkovic was born in Croatia but grew up in the United States. She was a student at Kalamazoo College in the 1990s. During that time, war broke out in her homeland. What Ivkovic learned at that time haunted her ever since. The Forgotten Women is Ivkovic’s documentary examining the systematic use of sexual violence against girls and women during the conflict that began in Croatia in 1991 and subsequently engulfed Bosnia, where genocide and widespread atrocities followed. The film explores the decades-long struggle of survivors seeking justice and accountability and will soon be premiered at The Hague.
“What distinguishes this documentary is its deeply personal dimension,” Ivkovic says. “I was born in Split, Croatia and raised in the Chicago suburbs. The summer before beginning my freshman year at Kalamazoo College, I was in Split visiting my grandparents. Just a couple of weeks after I returned to the United States, war broke out in Croatia.
“I initially intended to pursue medicine, but the unfolding violence in my homeland profoundly changed my direction. Within my first year at Kalamazoo, I shifted my academic focus to political science and women’s studies, eventually devoting my Senior Individualized Project to the systematic use of rape as an instrument of genocide.”
During part of her senior year, Ivkovic traveled through war-torn Croatia, crossing enemy lines, translating survivors’ testimonies, and delivering humanitarian supplies to refugees. Those experiences became the foundation for this film.
“My professional journey subsequently took me into diplomacy, first at the Croatian Embassy in Washington, D.C., and then as part of a four-person team that established Croatia’s first consulate in Los Angeles,” she says. “I later earned my MFA from USC and spent years working in the film and television industry, including at 20th Century Fox. I eventually returned to diplomacy, working at the U.S. Embassy in Bangladesh and teaching American poetry and creative writing workshops at the American Center in Dhaka.”
The film is scheduled to have its world premiere at the International Film Festival The Hague on November 13, 2026.
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