As part of the program of the Sarajevo Film Festival, the “CineLink Drama Showcase of Telekom Srbija” was held today, where the Serbian film by Radoš Bajić was presented.
The promotion of this film is a big failure of the organizers of the 29th edition of the Sarajevo FIlm Festival, since in this film the Chetnik forces led by the war criminal Draža Mihailović are portrayed as positive actors who helped in the great rescue operation of the allied forces behind enemy lines in the Second World War.
The rescue of the allied pilots was organized by the US aviation in cooperation with the Yugoslav army in the homeland of the Chetnik general Dragoljub Draža Mihailović, and lasted from August to December 1944.
Nedeljko Bajić, film producer and production director of Contrast studios, spoke about this project today in Sarajevo.
The author of the film, Radoš Bajić, said in earlier statements about this film that “this story was told by the barefoot Serbian people who at that moment found themselves in the most dramatic period of their history, left in despair.”
“In these and such conditions, the Serbian people showed their humanity, philanthropy, charity and heroism. Our project is therefore not a spectacle for the sake of spectacle, although we also have monumental sequences that reflect heroism, but the story is deeply personal and is given from the perspective of a Serbian families through whose destiny the key events of that time are refracted,” said Radoš Bajić earlier.
The description of the film states that it is the story of the three Jović brothers and their family, torn between opposing ideologies.
While Mirko is fighting in the units of the Yugoslav army in the homeland, Sreten joined the partisans. Ilija, the youngest male heir whom his father wants to preserve, is torn between two sides. The saga of them and their individual tragic destinies represent a paradigm of the Serbian national tragedy, fratricide and ideological splits, which lead an entire nation to ruin.
As part of this operation, the Chetniks participated in the rescue of more than 500 allied pilots, who were shot down by the Germans over Yugoslavia.
The largest number of pilots was evacuated from the improvised airport in the village of Pranjani in 1944. In US military circles, this rescue mission is known as: Operation Halyard.
On this occasion, Klix.ba contacted the organizers of the Sarajevo Film Festival, who gave their comments:
“Any comment is superfluous, and we are taken aback. That program slot was intended for the presentation of future films and series of this company. We will resolve everything further regarding this case with this company, because content was shown that was not agreed upon,” said Andrijana Copf, PR of Sarajevo Film Festival.