Students from Mostar and Sarajevo have united their creative talents and developed a video that reached over 610.000 people just on Facebook, winning the hearts of the public and the jury. The winning video tells a captivating story of sevdalinka, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s traditional song, emphasizing its beauty and power over the centuries, while transcending from one generation to another.
As part of European Union’s Generation Changeinitiative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, that brings together students from all over the country, students from Faculty of Economics, University of Sarajevo and Faculty of Information Technology, University “Džemal Bijedic” Mostar have won a study trip to Brussels, the heart of the European Union, with their unique representation of sevdalinka, musical cultural heritage that connects different generations of people living in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Students from Mostar and Sarajevo have united their creative talents and developed a video that reached over 610.000 people just on Facebook, winning the hearts of the public and the jury. The winning video tells a captivating story of sevdalinka, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s traditional song, emphasizing its beauty and power over the centuries, while transcending from one generation to another. By presenting this story, students wanted to portray uniqueness that Bosnia and Herzegovina has as an European Union candidate country, and a future member state.
“The Generation Change project reaffirmed the manifold talents of young people in this country. Traveling across Bosnia and Herzegovina this spring, I met over 700 students and was amazed by their energy and dedication to change things for the better. I invite everyone to watch this year’s winning video, which beautifully tells the story of Bosnia and Herzegovina, its people, and beautiful traditions, created by students from Sarajevo and Mostar – Sevdah u srcu Evrope”, emphasized Johann Sattler, Head of EU Delegation in BiH and EU Special Representative in BiH.
During their visit to Brussels at the end of this month, students will get a chance to visit the European Union headquarters and its institutions, meet with EU officials, and present them their vision on what should be the role of youth in BiH’s path towards the European Union.
One of the members of the winning team, a student of Faculty of Information Technologies from Mostar, Sara Peco, says that she is excited to be a part of Generation Change project which brought her to work on an inspiring video.
“Enthusiasm is always contagious, and during our time together, there was no shortage of it. Of course, working in the ‘Sevdah’ team with my colleagues and friends from Sarajevo and Mostar was my favourite part of the project. A common vision moved us and directed us towards our final goal – presenting sevdalinka as an unbreakable collective link of us all”, Peco said.
The winning team, as well as other students who took part in the Generation Change video competition, were selected following a series of engaging discussions of university students in Zenica, Sarajevo, Tuzla, Mostar, Bihac and Banja Luka from February to April this year involving the EU Ambassador Johann Sattler, Ambassadors from EU Member States, experts, and youth professionals.
By pooling their collective ideas, student teams have created a campaign that captures the innovative ideas and remarkable potential that the country and its youth possess. Their innovative ideas, when combined with country’s rich cultural heritage and natural beauty, form a genuine asset for Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Winning video can be found on the following link.
