Both documentary and poetic, the new play, ‘‘The Lullaby for Mladenka,’’ takes crimes against Croatian civilians from the village of Grabovica in September 1993 as its subject. Members of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH) killed 33 Croatian civilians, the oldest of whom was 87 years old and the youngest four. Play’s author is Sead Đulić, and it’s performed by the Mostar Youth Theater (eMTeeM).
A road trip story only makes sense when the travelers, at least mistakenly, have a goal and believe that arriving at their destination will solve all problems and end all the hassles of the trip. There is no such goal in Bosnia; all roads are seemingly equally bumpy and pointless, leading you around in circles even when you seem to be making progress. Driving through Bosnia is different: “a twisted cosmic worm that does not lead to an external and real destination but to the gloomy, barely traversed depths of your own being.” These are Lana Bastašić’s words, whose latest novel is called „Uhvati zeca.“
Rising 1,042 meters above sea level is Udrc Mountain, the highest elevation point in central Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Podrinje region, also known as the Drina Valley. This mountain and the nearby Kamenica Hill are two sites often referenced in recollections of the Srebrenica genocide and are of great significance to the country’s wartime historical narrative.
Daut Tihic, a former soldier of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Dane Vasic, a former soldier of the Republika Srpska Army, met on the Skelani frontlines near Srebrenica in the fall of 1992. Daut shot Dane and, for 14 years, lived with the belief that he had killed him. That was until they met again and under completely different circumstances.
Hasan Jusovic and Aco Nenadic met in Sarajevo before the war during times of peace. Hasan worked as a driver for General Vojislav Djurdjevac of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), while Aco served in the JNA military in the Bosnian capital city.
“Violent conflicts are social disasters which fundamentally change the trust relationships in a society. Trust is easy to lose, but takes a long time to rebuild.” - Kirsten Voigt Juhl, University of Stavanger -