The organisers of the Sarajevo Film Festival (SFF) have found themselves in an unenviable situation after a new film, which is being made in Serbia and which glorifies the Chetnik movement, was presented at this year's edition of CineLink Industry Days, held as part of the SFF.
The Heroes of Halyard, a film being made by Serbian actor and director Radoš Bajić, was presented as part of CineLink Industry Days, an event showcasing projects under preparation and connecting film professionals from the region.
The film glorifies Chetniks for their role in saving Allied pilots whose planes were shot down in combat missions in the area of Yugoslavia during World War II.
During the presentation of the film, to be finalised in the autumn, excerpts were screened that show Chetniks as “good guys” and friends to Allied pilots.
Operation Halyard was a 1944 mission launched by the USA to organise the evacuation of US and British pilots shot down over Serbia, and in doing so, the Allies relied on the logistic support of Chetniks, led by Draža Mihailović, who controlled a part of the territory suitable for building a runway.
Different sources mention a figure of slightly more than 400 pilots and other crew members who were saved that way.
That fact was used as the basis for a revisionist approach to the history of WWII in Serbia, aimed at depicting Chetniks as freedom fighters instead of collaborationists, which they undoubtedly were.
The attempt to promote the revisionist approach in Sarajevo might have not attracted publicity if journalist Dragan Bursać had not drawn attention to it.
This prompted a response from the SFF directorate which said that it, too, was unpleasantly surprised but stressed that the material shown were only excerpts and not an entire film, even though not even that had been approved or agreed on.
“We would like to stress that the content in question had not been agreed on and that the Sarajevo Film Festival will not allow its being used for the promotion of any kind of historical revisionism,” said SFF spokeswoman Andriana Copf.
However, the case has immediately become a subject of political quarrels.
Sarajevo Mayor Benjamina Karić reacted by requesting the replacement of those responsible at the SFF, noting that the case has caused immeasurable damage to the festival and to Sarajevo.
Sarajevo has always been open to others, those who are well-meaning, and it will find a way to deal with those with bad intentions, she said.
Her statements drew a response from Nenad Stevandić, president of the parliament of the Bosnian Serb entity of Republika Srpska, who used the opportunity to promote Chetniks as part of the anti-fascist coalition.
Stevandić, who is under US sanctions for threatening the stability of Bosnia and Herzegovina and violation of the Dayton peace agreement, said in a post on a social network that Chetnik leader Draža Mihailović was decorated many times for Operation Halyard, suggesting others should check this with the USA, France and Poland.
