"Bosnia - A miracle which does not shine" - Film screening at the European Commission Liaison Office in Pristina

1 April 2009
Travnik
Travnik

"Bosnia – A miracle which does not shine"
(52 minutes, in English)

 

"a compelling documentary series about the Balkans and Turkey”
Olli Rehn, European Commissioner for Enlargement

"These are documentaries all of us citizens of the European Union should have the opportunity to see"
Giuliano Amato, former Italian Prime Minister

Return to Europe Series
Winner of the 2008 Erasmus EuroMedia Award

 

on Wednesday, 1 April 2009, at 17:30

 

Thirteen years after its vicious war, Bosnia and Herzegovina has changed tremendously. It has seen the large-scale return of displaced persons, the return of property and a comprehensive process of demilitarisation. Freedom of movement has been restored. Interethnic violence has largely gone. And yet Bosnia also remains isolated and few Bosnians feel optimistic about their future.

This film follows a team of young researchers (Bosnians and foreigners) as they try to discover how much Bosnia has changed. Their journey takes them to the former concentration camps, to Central Bosnia, which has seen some of the worst massacres of the war, and to Doboj, a town in Republika Srpska on the former frontline that was once infamous as a hotbed of Serb nationalism. They talk to the captain of the Bosnian national football team, to rappers and musicians, to the orthodox bishop and a Franciscan brother, to the Slovak diplomat who still has ultimate power in the county and to people struggling with their personal traumas of the war.

What emerges from these conversations is a gripping and often deeply moving encounter with people who are able to move beyond recent horrors to construct new lives.

"Bosnia – A miracle which does not shine" is a part of the TV project "Return to Europe", a series of 10 one-hour TV documentaries featuring countries and cities in the Balkans. The aim of the series is to acquaint viewers across Europe with the latest developments in South East Europe and the struggle of the people of the region for a better future in a united Europe.

The series is supported by ERSTE Stiftung and has been jointly produced by the German-language satellite channel 3sat, Austria's public broadcaster ORF and the TV production company pre-TV, in cooperation with the European Stability Initinative (ESI), upon whose research and analysis these films are based. The films have recently been shown at international events in Brussels, Istanbul, Tbilisi, Berlin, and other cities across Europe and have received very positive feedback. They will be broadcast by a number of TV stations throughout the Balkans in coming months.

Please confirm your participation by e-mail to Maja Pavlovic.

Date:

Wednesday, 1 April 2009

Time:

17.30

Venue:

European Commission Liaison Office to Kosovo (ECLO),
1 Kosovo Street,
10000 Pristina