A powerful new documentary exploring one of Europe’s most endangered heritage sites will make its debut at the Sarajevo Film Festival.
The Partisan Necropolis, a 72‑minute feature directed and produced by Scottish-based photographer and filmmaker Chris Leslie in collaboration with the Post-Conflict Research Center (PCRC), tells the story of Mostar’s decaying Partisan Memorial Cemetery and the small group of relatives fighting to preserve the memory of fallen WWII Partisan fighters.
Once a celebrated national monument designed by renowned architect Bogdan Bogdanović, the cemetery has become a battleground of memory and ideology. Neglected for decades, it now bears the scars of vandalism, including swastikas, far‑right graffiti, and the 2022 destruction of nearly 700 commemorative stone flowers. While many locals dismiss it as a relic of communism, the film captures the emotional journeys of families returning to the site, uncovering a poignant struggle against historical erasure.
Through archival footage, original architectural sketches, and interviews with historians, architects, and cultural heritage experts, The Partisan Necropolis confronts the rise of neo‑fascist sentiment in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the broader European struggle to protect anti‑fascist memory. At its core, the film follows a small group of families who return to the cemetery to find the names of their loved ones among the rubble. Their stories—of grief, remembrance, and quiet resistance—anchor the documentary in lived experience. Through their eyes, we witness the personal and collective cost of forgetting.
The documentary arrives ahead of two anniversaries in 2025: the 60th anniversary of the cemetery’s inauguration and the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII.
The film will screen on August 17th from 3PM at Cineplexx Sarajevo as part of the Sarajevo Film Festival’s BH Film program, spotlighting stories that bridge past and present in the region. The first batch of pre-sale tickets sold out but further limited tickets can be purchased here – https://tickets.sff.ba/films/2906.
