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SARAJEVO 2017 Industry

Sarajevo's True Stories Market: investigating a non-forgotten past

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- A selection of nine stories that have not yet been presented to the general public dealing mainly with the crimes of the Yugoslav war were presented to a unique market

Sarajevo's True Stories Market: investigating a non-forgotten past
An image from the True Stories Market talk (© SFF)

True Stories Market is one of Sarajevo Film Festival’s CineLink Talks that really stands out. Being part of the Dealing with the Past programme, the market aims to bring to light stories from the 1990s Yugoslav war that have never been depicted in films or on television. In this year’s edition, six organizations investigating the war of former Yugoslavia, presented nine stories to an audience of film professionals, aiming to find possible producers, directors and scriptwriters to bring these stories to a wider audience. The panel was introduced by the programme’s coordinator Maša Marković and was moderated by Robert Tomić Zuber.

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The selection of stories was quite versatile and most of them had a real impact on the audience, as the hidden aspects of the war are still present in contemporary society in the states of former Yugoslavia and still remain undiscovered by the public after all these years.

Going into a more detailed presentation of the stories, Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN), a non-governmental organisation based in Sarajevo that specialising in monitoring and reporting on war-crime trials, presented three stories:

A Bosnian Turned Mujahedeen Then Terrorist, is about a Bosnian who decided to join the Islamic State and fight for Islam following the example of Arabs who joined the Bosnian unit El Mujahid during the 90s.

From War Deserters to Participants in the Most Notorious Crime follows the unknown story of a group from Republika Srpska who were originally deserters but forced to join the Bosnian army and participate to the Srebrenica genocide.

Profile of a Mercenary Soldier is the story of Franc Kos, one of the most notorious war mercenaries who fought for all armies during the war, Republika Srpska (VRS), the Croat Defence Council (HVO) and the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina (AB&H).

Centre for Civic Education is a non-governmental, non-profit organisation from Montenegro, which presented the Concentration Camp Mamula story, where a Second World War camp, on the island of Lastavica, is now threatened with becoming a luxury hotel, something that will completely alter its historical character.

The Serbian Humanitarian Law Centre is documenting and reporting on war crimes and other crimes committed during the wars in former Yugoslavia and presented two stories:

Deportations of Refugees from Srebrenica is about a group of 30 Bosnian men that managed to escape before the genocide, and focusing on the father of one of them that has had no evidence of whether or not his father is still alive until now.

Criminal Complaint Over Crimes Committed in Doboj, is about Radojica Bozović, who is now well-involved in football business in Serbia but used to be a member of the Red Berets Unit that is accused for war crimes.

Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia, one of the leading NGOs in Serbia presented the story of the art colony Intercultural Icebreakers that is based in both Serbia and Kosovo and where a group of young artists prefer to abandon the hatred between “enemies” and create art in order to change lives, surviving their war traumas by creating and promoting art in both countries.

Medica Zenica, the oldest expert NGO that provides comprehensive assistance, support and care to women in Bosnia and Herzegovina, presented the story of Zehra, a woman that was abused and raped during the war. A short film based on her story was screened in Sarajevo, with the aim of further exploring the investigation into the aftermath of war rapes.

Finally, The Association for Social Research and Communication (UDIK) a regional NGO for human rights and international humanitarian law, presented the Criminals Among Us story, explores Edhem was held prisoner in two camps and was tortured by war criminals Goran Jelisic, known as the Serb “Adolf”, Fikret Smajlovic, known as Piklic and Dzemal Zahirovic, known as Spajzer.

The Dealing with the Past programme is supported by the Robert Bosch Stiftung, in partnership with Al Jazeera Balkans and the Embassy of the United States of America.

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