Download Discussion Questions for Once Brothers

ONCE BROTHERS
BACKGROUND: Drazen Petrovic and Vlade Divac were two friends who grew up together sharing the common bond of basketball.
Together, they lifted the Yugoslavian National team to unimaginable heights. After conquering Europe, they both went to America where
they became the first two foreign players to attain NBA stardom. But with the fall of the Soviet Union on Christmas Day 1991, Yugoslavia
split up. A war broke out between Petrovic's Croatia and Divac's Serbia. Long buried ethnic tensions surfaced. And these two men, once
brothers, were now on opposite sides of a deadly civil war. As Petrovic and Divac continued to face each other on the basketball courts
of the NBA, no words passed between the two. Then, on the fateful night of June 7, 1993, Drazen Petrovic was killed in an auto accident.
"Once Brothers" will tell the gripping tale of these two men, how circumstances beyond their control tore apart their friendship, and whether
Divac has ever come to terms with the death of a friend before they had a chance to reconcile.
Before viewing: look at the ethnic group
maps on page 241 & 267 of your text.
Give at least one example of an ethnic
group from this region who might be
considered a:
Stateless nationNation stateMulti nation stateMulti state nation-
1. Before viewing read through the textbook history of the former Yugoslavia on page 240-1.
2. Before VIEWING what is the climate/physical geography of Yugoslavia
3. Before VIEWING identify the branch and family of the language spoken in Yugoslavia (page 174)?
4. Before viewing define Cold War.
As you watch the Documentary…
5. Yugoslavia was one, unified country in
_______________________________________
but torn apart due to _____________________
and then became ________________________
a. Use the terms nationalism, ethnocentrism,
and ethnic cleansing to describe the events
in the region.
6. What was the main push factor behind the
Valde’s migration?
7. Compare and contrast several aspects of culture
of Yugoslavia and the United States (food,
Language, landscape).
a. Is basketball part of folk or pop
culture? Explain.
b. When Vlade arrives in the United States
did he acculturate or assimilate?
Explain.
10. How long did the conflict last? Describe the
overall impact the conflict had on the land its
people.
a. What visible impacts still remain on the
physical landscape as a result of the
conflict?
11. Using this documentary as your basis, explain
the concepts of devolution and balkanization.
8. How did this national team later during the
World championships in Argentina become a
centripetal force? Use the “flag story” as
evidence to support.
9. Describe how the political world changing was
changing in 1989?
12. Now that you understand the title ONCE
BROTHERS, explain what the title means to you
in an APHUG context.