30th Sarajevo Film Festival: Dealing with the Past

This group of dedicated young professionals devoted one week to the topic “Dealing with the Past”. The participants came from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia. Something special about this group is that they came from different walks of life. The youngest participant being 18 and about to finish high school in the coming year, as well as a young history teacher from Croatia. People from various disciplines, Political Scientists, Photographers, Filmmakers, Journalists, Engineering Students, the common denominator of the group was their passion for working together, reconciliation, wanting to change the status quo and working on a joint progressive future.

The Dealing with the Past program exceeded all my expectations - in terms of content, variety and organization. This was a truly unique experience for me from which I learned a lot and I am grateful for the opportunity to participate. - Anastazija, 20, Serbia

The aim of the program is to create a safe space in which participants can challenge dominant narratives and engage in dialogue. And to experience the Sarajevo Film Festival, which in itself is a sign of resistance, resilience and survival in the darkest of times. To facilitate this, the programme included an intimate discussion with the filmmakers Myriam El Hajj (Diaries from Lebanon), Mohamed Jabaly (A Life is Beautiful), Željko Stanetić (Milena) and Nebojša Slijepčević (The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent), during which the participants could discuss the films they had seen by the filmmakers, but also their work and experiences in general. Myriam and Mohamed from Lebanon and Palestine, Željko and Nebojša from Serbia and Croatia, they come from different parts of the world. However, they have all experienced living through conflict and its legacy, or are still living in conflict.

Each workshop and film were lessons that made us fall in love with cinematography anew every day. - Zuhdija, 22, Bosnia and Herzegovina

The program provided the opportunity for young people to learn from and engage in discussion with experts from a range of fields. Historian Nicolas Moll kicked off the program by facilitating a discussion between the participants about the topic of remembering. After that, the group took a walk down memory lane, curated by Nicolas Moll. They discussed Bosnia and Herzegovina's long and rich history, which is a portrayal of this diversity of the whole region. Photographers Paul Lowe and Zyah Gafić presented insights into the utilisation of photography as a medium for memory. They shared their own experiences of photographing in conflict zones and reflected on the role of photography in remembering and highlighted that it is important to be aware that memories and, consequently, photographs can be misused for feeding destructive narratives.

It was an honour and a privilege to participate in this program, as young people we must learn about the past and not repeat the same mistakes. Through dialogue, we can gain understanding, empathy and broaden our perspectives. - Nedžma, 18, Bosnia and Herzegovina

During panel discussions, participants had the opportunity to engage with experts from a range of fields. The topic of human rights in times of uncertainty was discussed with Damir Šagolj, Samir Lemeš and Dino Abazović. The displacement of memories was discussed with writers Damir Ovčina and Faruk Šehić, film director Alen Drljević and Selma Korjenić from Trial International. The final session was a discussion between Henk van den Dool, Denis Dzidić and Dr. Ralf Melzer on how to rebuild trust and security in the aftermath of conflict. The participants did not shy away to speak their minds and discuss with the panelists, what made this experience so educational and enrichening.

The Friedrich Ebert Foundation - Dialogue for Southeast Europe looks forward to collaborating further with the Sarajevo Film Festival and all partners. But most of all we want to thank our participants for keeping an open mind and remembering that dialogue is the first step to joint future.

This article was authored as part of the FES Internship Program by FES 2024 Intern, Larissa Lojić.