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Mostar uniteda documentary by Claudia Tosi

Developed with the support of

Stefilm via Berthollet 44 - 10125 Torino (Italy) - tel +39 011 6680017 - fax +39 011 6680003 - www.stefilm.it - [email protected]

a man’s struggle to overcome the city’s ethnical divide

INDEX

SYNOPSIS 3FILM TREATMENT 3Mostar and me 3Nenad’s challenge 4Nenad and his job 5Nenad and the “war children” 5Nenad and his son Hasan 6The “war children” are not united 6Is Europe a way out? 8DIRECTOR’S NOTE 9DRAMATIC STRUCTURE 11VISUAL APPROACH 12CV DIRECTOR 12CV PRODUCTION COMPANY 12APPENDIX - THE CITY OF MOSTAR 14

Mostar. The city is divided in East and West by the “Boulevard”

SYNOPSISThe ferocious nationalism of the former-Yugoslavia has divided Mostar in two, by ethnic grouping and Nenad is notwelcome in his town anymore. Both Croatian and Muslimnationalists hate him because he wants Mostar “to be onceagain the town of Serbs, Croatians and Muslims together”.They are turning Nenad’s life into a nightmare: as a co-director of the Tourist Office, he’s attacked everyday bynationalist media; as a director of the Velez School of soccer,he’s without any financial help because, on his pitch, he teaches to an army of “war children” not to ask if the othersare Serb, Croatian or Muslim. He is under crossfire and hissons are beaten or threatened when they go to the “wrongside” of town. The elder, Hasan, is fed up with living in halfMostar, he’s dreaming Europe to be a professional footballerand a free person. Nenad has lost his “Montmartre of theBalkans” and now he might be loosing his son.

FILM TREATMENTMostar and meFifteen years after my best friend left Mostar to escape thewar that tore Yugoslavia apart, I stand on the Boulevardthat was once the front line. Still today this Boulevard divides Mostar in two: Croats live in the West side, Muslimsin the East one. In the film archives I can see the reasonwhy my friend Svjetlana doesn’t’ want to come back toMostar anymore. In the same streets where once peoplewere happy and mixed, a fratricide war broke up separated families. Today the same murderers that tortured and killed their own friends and relatives, in thename of the ethnical membership, live next door their victims. Are there reasons to come back and live here?

Stefilm via Berthollet 44 - 10125 Torino (Italy) - tel +39 011 6680017 - fax +39 011 6680003 - www.stefilm.it - [email protected] 3

“Mostar united” by Claudia Tosi, all rights reserved Stefilm © 2006

Mostar united a documentary by Claudia Tosi

a man’s struggle to overcome the city’s ethnical divide

Driving around Mostar, what I see are ruins, gutted buildings and brand-new churches or mosques - itdepends on what side I am. Many people are sitting in barsalso during working time. The interview of my dear friendNenad that I am hearing from the car radio explains what itis Mostar like: there is no job, economy is a disaster and politicians are adding fuel to ethnical hate, “which is thesame situation that started the war”, he warns the journalist.

Nenad’s challengeNenad is talking to the mic in the radio studio, right behindthe Boulevard, in the East side. He shrugs his shoulderslike somebody who despises the “new mentality”. A bigscar, heritage of the war, divides his forehead in two. The45-year-old former Velez football player and nowadays co-director of the Tourist Office takes the risk to talk aboutthe folly of this divided town openly.



Nenad and his jobBack in his office, few meters far from the Old Bridge,Nenad has to face the umpteenth attack from WestMostar. The Muslim sellers of the area and the divers areaccused to be in touch with mujaheddins and a danger fortourists. Nenad is full of rage. Looking outside his officewindows, it’s not danger what you breath. You see hundreds of tourists enjoying the shopping and the“Thousand and one Night“ atmosphere in the rebuiltOttoman scenery, while domestic people enjoy coffee,cigarettes and talks. “Nationalists of both sides wantMostar to be the town of the ones or the others, butMostar has always been the town of Serbs, Croatians andMuslims together. This is what I am teaching to my children!”, he says before running downstairs to Marshall’s,the “headquarter” of his generation, to discuss about howto reply to the enemy’s fire.

Nenad and the “war children”There is no time off in Nenad’s daytime. After job, he wearsthe Velez uniform and drive to North Camp with his olderson Hasan, the 17 years old rising star of Velez. A patch ofground, snatched from the old barracks destroyed by grenades, became the Velez School of Soccer pitch and adirty run-down block the changing room. On a gutted wallyou can still read Tito’s motto “Take care of unity andbrotherhood like you take care of your own eyes”. Nenadis the director of the school where an “army” of kids, from8 up to 18 years old, respect him as a father. “I teach themwhat I learned here when I was a kid: Don’t care if someone is Serb, Croat or Muslim!”. Today the balls will be locked in the closet. The last matchwas a catastrophe and Nenad knows why. “You are notunited! And when it happens it is pure defeat. Do I have toremember you the terrible past we all had?!”, he shouts.His son Hasan and the other “war children” listen to Nenadstanding silently around him.



Nenad and his son HasanThere is a special relationship in between Nenad and hisson. While Nenad was in the war, Hasan was in Germanywith his mother, but Nenad swears that if he is still alive itis thanks to him. He remembers that once that it was shelling like hell, he was sitting in what was left of his son’sroom, crying like a baby, thinking of his small kid clingingon his leg because he didn’t want to leave his father. Hefound a small toy and kept it in the pocket of the uniformas an amulet. Not even the grenade that divided his headin two could kill him. Every year, for the main Muslim celebration, Nenad takes Hasan to several cemeteries tovisit the 45 relatives who died in the war.

The “war children” are not unitedLooking at Hasan and Nenad you cannot but notice howalike they are. On the right arm they both have the sametattoo, the Old Bridge and a dragon, which means eternallove and engagement for Mostar. But what makes the bigdifference is that Hasan is exposed everyday to the “new”mentality. Nenad teaches his son the importance of



“brotherhood and unity”, but what Hasan learns from theenvironment is separation. For instance, Hasan attends theGymnasium. “We study here with our Croatian peers. Wehave the same lessons but different programs, teachersand classrooms” he says, before entering the left wing ofthe butted Austro-Hungarian pink building. The “Others”are in the right wing. The first institution of “re-found unity”is actually a school of “apartheid”. On the way back home, Hasan sits under the Bridge toattend the anti-fascist celebration for the victims of IIWW.“While we celebrate the day of antifascism, our “neighbours” celebrate the day of fascism(…)”, says thespeaker. Hasan claps and says: “This is why we cannot goto the same classrooms. We have completely differentpoint of view on history. I cannot blame my peers to beNationalists, I think this is Democracy!”.

When the city soccer derby of Hasan generation is close,the atmosphere in the gymnasium is tough for him. Thestudents of the Croat program support the team of WestMostar, Zrinjski, and Hasan is a target, because he’s the



star of Velez team. To protect the kids, Nenad drives theplayers to Zrinjski stadium with a bus. Only 300 mts separates it from the Velez headquarter, but you neverknow what can happen to these boys after they cross theBoulevard. When both teams are ready to enter the pitch,Nenad keeps his players inside the dressing room until thepolice are not there to patrol the match.

Is Europe a way out?For Hasan life in Mostar is too hard. His great talent is hispassport for Europe. The Balkans have great expectationson Europe to find a way out, but is Europe ready for theBalkans? Last time that Nenad’s team was in Italy withouthim for a friendly tournament I assisted to a shameful interview: “You are Muslims, you are Croatians….whatwould you do if a Serb would kill you?”, asked the journalist to Nenad’s 13 years old “war children”. Lookingat the footage of the interview he got crazy. “My kids arenot zoo animals! An interview like this can destroy years ofwork on their post-war traumas!”.

When Hasan gets the invitation for a try training from oneof the most important Italian teams, Nenad organises abarbecue for friends and relatives to celebrate Hasan.Everybody makes a comparison in between father and sonand it is not clear who is the main character of the event.The past melts with the presents, joyful and sad memoriesmix and one thing is clear: before the war there was no reason to leave Mostar, but “It is better to be a goodMostarian abroad that being turned into a bad one athome”, says Nenad. I ask myself what it will be of this townif all the good Mostarians will go abroad.

Nenad and his wife drive Hasan to Split, to the ferry. Theboy doesn’t leave the deck of the ship until he cannot seehis parents anymore. Europe is stingy when it come tovisas, they are not allowed. Hasan, in the small berth,listens to melodic Balkanian music. He’s sad and excited.“If I will go to play in Italy, I will send part of my salary to



Velez, like all other Mostarians playing in Europe!”.

I came to Mostar to find the reasons for my friend’s homecoming and finally I understood why Svjetlana willnever come back: it is better to be a good Mostarianabroad than to turn into a bad one at home. I look atNenad in North Camp, training the 8 years old team, the“teletubbies” generation. It is amazing to watch at themkissed by the late afternoon sunrays and by the wind, running in the wide wild field in the middle of nowhere.Around the pitch, there are sheep, too. It is so peaceful andbeautiful here. But the gutted wall behind me doesn’t allowforgetting the past.I look at the kids and ask myself: willthey stay to rebuild or will they leave to feel free?

DIRECTOR’S NOTEMOSTAR UNITED starts where I put the word end to myprevious film, dated 2004, “Private fragments of Bosnia”.

“Private fragments of Bosnia” first originated because Iwanted to convince my best friend Svjetlana to return toMostar after she had fled it in 1992 because of the war.



I succeeded in my aim, but her reaction forced me toundertake a new research. She said her pure and naïveMostar had died and what was left were its killers with theirminarets and churches. The “Montmartre of the Balkans”was not there anymore and there was no reason to comeback. She was wrong. I found the last survivors of that civilization based on unity and brotherhood and they needhelp because they are close to extinction. They are wherethey were all their life, around the soccer team that madethem feel united and brothers after the II World War, in theVelez Football Club. They fight to make Mostar once againthe “town of Croats, Serbs and Muslims”, to erase the divisions. Nenad is “the hero” who has the strength to put himselfagainst those who want to vanquish his people from theface of the earth and kick out of Mostar the unwelcomeethnical memberships. Yielding to anger, vendetta and painwould paralyse Nenad and make him the same as his tormentors. As Simone Weil says, the exercise of forceturns man into stone, incapable of seeing himself equal toothers and belonging to the same humankind, be they victim or bloody executor.

I feel caught up in Nenad’s battle. I am fascinated by people who work day in day out, in their own small way, forsocial justice. I believe it is the only possible way to improve the world. Regardless of the outcome of the



battle, this approach is a revolution in itself. Nenad teaches me that we do not have to be rich or powerful tomake a mark on society and that we can do it using whatwe are best at. In his case, football. Mostar is not so verydifferent from the rest of the world: an elite made up ofpotentates tries to neutralize its adversaries. The only wayout is to infect as many young people as possible with thegerm “of equality”. There is no alternative in this globalworld, unless we want to turn the planet into a time bomb.

DRAMATIC STRUCTUREMOSTAR UNITED opens with a comment by Svjetlanawho condemns Mostar to a future filled with hate. The filmis driven by the search for a different path. The issue between Svjetlana and myself fades into thebackground while Nenad comes up to the foreground andcomes back, now and then, to lead the narration. Nenad leads us through the war, after-war, present andfuture with his personal life. He experienced pure happiness when Mostar was the Montmartre of theBalkans, then he felt the grief of war and the despair of thepost-war. History is told to us through his feelings andmemories, the present through his actions, his everyday lifeand his relationship with the environnement. His son Hasanis an important second character, because he is the resultof the dived mentality. He attends a “divided” gymnasium,he doesn’t cross the Boulevard which divides Mostar intwo, he was left by his croatian girlfriend because of herparents’ pressure. Nenad is trying to erase what this divided society is building and the “war children” are thebattle field where past and present are fighting. Future isuncertain: will they stay to rebuild something new thinkingof the past, will they accept the status quo or will they leaveto feel free?

The film follows the pursuing of Nenad’s goals and his battles with the environnement. The archives (personal, oldsuper 8, footage from Sarajevo film library...) will providethe visual background of Nenad’s feelings and memories.



VISUAL APPROACHThe camera of MOSTAR UNITED identifies with the reality.Aware of situations in which there is conflict between theprotagonists, and the surrounding environment, it waits forevents to happen, provoking without conditioning them,listening to the central characters when they feel the needto explain the present or show the past through what theyhave conserved. Archives are used like fragments of thepast, lyrical excerpts which can visualize what’s going on inNenad’s mind. They are more emotional than narrative. The director of photography is Brand Ferro, one of the lea-ding Macedonian cinematographers. Brand is a good friend of mine and of Nenad. I like his lightshots, the natural way he compose the scene via sequen-ce planes that never lose the focus of action. We are part ofthe lives of the people whose story we are telling and wewant to bear this in mind.

CV DIRECTORCLAUDIA TOSI 1970, Modena, Italy

Major filmography- Private fragments of Bosnia, 52': Best DocumentaryGenova film Festival 2004, Best documentaryMediterraneo Video Festival, Paestum,2005, SelectedIDFA 2004, Reflecting Images, Selected “Festival deiPopoli”, Firenze 2004, One World Human RightsInternational Documentary, Prague, 2004, and broadcasted TSI (Suisse) and YLE (Finland).- Building the Winter Games, 3x46' Stefilm International forDiscovery Europe, 2006

CV PRODUCTION COMPANY

Stefilm is one of the leading Italian documentary productioncompany's. It specialises on historical, social and culturaldocumentaries. It is committed to creating documentary



programming which brings Italian themes and talent to therest of the world and to re-establishing a thriving documentary culture in Italy.

Stefilm's founders, Stefano Tealdi, Elena Filippini andEdoardo Fracchia, have been working since 1985 withbroadcasters and filmmakers to build a strong core ofdocumentary professionals, developing stories and characters that reflect the complexity of today’s societyand the best of the world’s culture and art. The three partners are active industry leaders both at home andabroad: Stefano Tealdi was chairperson of the EuropeanDocumentary Network (EDN), and is currently national co-ordinator of INPUT – Television in the Public Interest.Stefilm is also a member of the steering committee of theDiscovery Campus.

Today the company has a thorough understanding of thecreative and production approach to the internationalmarket. The most recent co-productions, developed withthe support of the MEDIA Programme of the EuropeanUnion, have been financed by international broadcastersgoing from National Geographic Channels International toArte.

The Italian richness, diversity and contradictions are anendless source of inspiration for documentaries. Stefilmhas produced films on its conflicts (“Citizen Berlusconi”,"Porto Marghera – The story of a lethal deception" and"Don Cesare – Priest on the Frontline"), on its cinema("Rice Girls"), on its music ("Fred"), on its food and wine(“Ice Cream: an endless passion”,"Uncorked in Italy!"), onits social transformations ("Crumbling Houses" and "LikeFossils"), on its roots (“ My Three Peaks”, “Mirabella –Sindelfingen"), on its mysteries (“Leonardo, the man behindthe shroud?”), on it's know-how ("Building the WinterGames") and on it's culture ("Piemonte Stories").



APPENDIXTHE CITY OF MOSTARPrior to the Bosnia-Herzegovina War, Mostar was considered the Montmartre of the Balkans. A beautifultown at the foot of the hills in the East of ex-Jugoslavia,100 kms from the sea. The city was a stranger to ethnic,religious and national divisions; it was the city in Yugoslaviawith the most mixed marriages. Indeed Mostar was thesymbol of East-meets-West. But during the war, the OldCity was nearly razed to the ground; 90% of the Old City’spopulation was either massacred or deported; the famedOttoman bridge, the Stari Most, was destroyed by aCroatian tank after a two-day siege. In one fell swoop, one of the world’s most secular and cosmopolitan civilizations was almost completely wipedout.



War broke out in 1992. The Serbs surrounded the city, butwere quickly ousted. Months later, in 1993, the secondwave of conflict began, the bloody fratricide betweenCroats and Muslims. According to native Mostarians, the tragedy was sparkedby the thousands of farmers who converged upon Mostarin the 1980s in search of work. By refusing to give up theirtraditions of national and religious identity, they changedthe face of the city almost overnight. The war was bitterand fierce with thousands killed in a door to door battle.Snipers along the streets and tank shellings destroyed thetown phisycally and the survivors spiritually. Muslims weremurdered or deported to concentration camps in the nameof ethnic cleansing. The city was split in half. NativeMostarians dug into the Old City to defend it. And while theOld City was being destroyed, people on the “Croatian”side of town flocked to cafés and bars to sip coffee or celebrate on-target mortar shots.

A peace treaty was signed in Dayton (U.S.A.) on November21, 1995, which stipulated the reunification of Mostar.While the more recent Mostar inhabitants still tend to harbor a strong sense of division, the “old Mostarians”refuse to adopt such an outlook, completely foreign to theirway of thinking, and continue to pass onto their children avision of life without barriers. But growing up in such a divided context does not helpyoung people to avoid the vortex of hatred generated bythe macabre intimacy foisted upon the city, where todayvictims and perpetrators walk the same streets, and theubiquitous graffiti message “never forget” is a double-edged sword.

Mostar’s population has since been cut in half, withapproximately 60,000 inhabitants remaining. Many whowere not killed in the war sought refuge abroad, especiallyin the Scandinavian countries (at least 35,000), Canadaand the United States. Today there are more nativeMostarians living in Oslo than in Mostar itself. For these



exiles the return home, even if only for a visit, is always ashock. The recent proliferation of crosses, minarets,mosques and churches is making the city unrecognizable.The streets have new names, based on “political” logictouted on both the East and West sides. Levels of unemployment are disastrously high, corruption runs rampant, and the general state of precariousness makesoptimism an impossible luxury. This scenario of economical disaster is terribly similar to the one that servedto fuel ethnic and national hatred, which gave start to thewar in 1992.

In addition to this, unfair distribution of areas of influenceand power raise tension between Croats and Moslems inHerzegovina; Moslems and Serbs in central Bosnia; whilein northern Bosnia, it’s everybody against everybody else. Seventy-five per cent of economic aid to Bosnia-Herzegovina is spent on maintaining the country’spalaeolithic bureaucracy afloat, while the remaining 25%ends up financing the construction of places of worshiprather than the restoration of factories. In this context, it’s easy to see how organized crime hasbeen able to step in with its control of drug traffic and thearms business, two driving forces of the local economy. It is thought that an enormous quantity of arms still circulates in Bosnia-Herzegovina, ready to re-ignite theconflict at any time. In recent years 16 million bullets,180,000 hand grenades, 43,000 rifles and pistols, 3,500mines and 40,000 kilograms of explosives have been confiscated.

Beginning in 2005 European EUFOR replaced NATOforces here, with the delicate task of keeping an utterly tenuous, fragile peace. Seven thousand new troops arrived, with headquarters atSarajevo; a field division is located in Mostar.Despite the “no-war” situation declared a decade ago atDayton, a truly peaceful solution to the seething conflictremains a far reach.





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