QUICK’N DIRTY: LIVE FROM SARAJEVO
Exactly 30 years ago, between July 11th and July 31st, the Eastern Bosnian town of Sebrenica saw the massacre of more 8,000 people, Bosniak men and boys almost in their entirety. It is widely accept that this is the largest European genocide since the Holocaust of Jews during WW2. This 50-minute film opens with aerial images of the city, while survivor Nermina reminisces about the olden days, before tragedy struck. She recalls a school, a leisure centre, and people forging ahead with their lives as usual. The present-day images reveal a mostly intact town, at least from above. Based on the drone shots, few would suspect that this community is synonymous with one of the worst atrocities of modern history.
The streets of Srebrenica, on the other hand, exude little joy. Nermina remembers that her family used to celebrate every possible holiday – Eid, Easter, Orthodox and non-Orthodox Christmas. The Serbian genociders did not share the same notion of diversity and tolerance. They sought to ethnically cleanse Bosniaks (a group of Bosnias adhering to Sunni Islam). Bosniak Nermina joined Serb Marinko in an interfaith ceremony and the Sekulić family had five children. Four have already left Sebrenica and the country, and most have comfortable jobs in Germany. Nermina notes: “if we can call this a country”, in reference to the ethnic lines and politics that still divide the tiny Balkan nation into two: Bosnia Herzegovina and Republika Srspka. It may not be long before the youngest one leaves, and that could be the nail in the coffin of a once thriving town.
There is barely the sight of a child of a children’s school in Srebrenica. While the walls are still standing, there is very little commercial activity, except perhaps for a little magazine shop. A heartbreaking song on the radio describes the pains of having witnessed some of the most shocking atrocities in the living memory of the Old Continent. The aftertaste of watching this movie is bitter, however with a spark of hope for recovery.
The movie is dotted with interviews, pictures and archive footage. It offers a partial picture of a broken community still coming to terms with irreparable loss and grief. The documentary lacks contextualisation, and those little familiar with the geopolitics and the dynamics of the conflict that led led to the massacre may struggle to follow the story. First and foremost, The Family is an examination of trauma and also a love letter to a vibrant and tolerant family shaken by the perverse tribulations of history. A sobering experience.
The Family just premiered at the 31st Sarajevo Film Festival. Not the only film in the Festival this year, commemorating the 30 years of the Genocide: Dino Hodić’s No One Will Hurt You offers viewers a painfully visceral experience. Also watch Jasmila Zbanic’s devastatingly real Quo Vadis Aida (2020) por more insight into the dynamics and the horrors of the genocide.
