Arsmedia

Genre: Feature length documentary film
Duration: 75 min
Year: 2022
Screenplay:  Miran Zupanič
Director:  Miran Zupanič
Featuring:  Stana Ćišić, Samir Ćišić, Faruk Šabanović, Edin Subašić
Link: www.film-center.si
Pictures, videos: ftp://ftp.arsmedia.si, (username: arsmedia-press, password: Arsmedia). For FTP access please use clients such as Filezilla, CyberDuck…

LOGLINE

Safari: an expedition to observe or hunt animals in their natural habitat.

STORY

Among the many dramatic episodes of the siege of Sarajevo from 1992 to 1996, the story of a human safari has remained concealed from the public eye. Only a select few were aware that on the Serbian side, the siege of Sarajevo involved not only the Bosnian Serb Army, volunteers and mercenaries but also another, small and clandestine group. These were wealthy foreigners who paid high fees for the chance to shoot at the residents of besieged Sarajevo.

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

“The film gives the viewer an intimation of the absolute evil underlying the masks of humanity and offers insight into the fates of people whose lives were irrevocably changed by the bullets of snipers. Along with their suffering, it also helps the viewer understand their wisdom and the power of their will to live.”

GALLERY

MOMENTS FROM THE PREMIERE AT FESTIVAL “AJB DOC SARAJEVO”, 10. 9. 2022

Foto: AJB DOC

CREW

Screenplay:  Miran Zupanič
Director:  Miran Zupanič
Cameramen:  Božo Zadravec, Maksimiljan Sušnik, Miran Zupanič
Editors:  Jaka Kovačič, Miran Zupanič
Composer: Tilen Slakan
Sound Designer:  Boštjan Kačičnik
Producers:  Franci Zajc, Boštjan Ikovic

FEATURING

Stana Ćišić
Samir Ćišić
Faruk Šabanović
Edin Subašić

MIRAN ZUPANIČ

Miran Zupanič (born 1961) graduated from the University in Ljubljana with degrees in law and film directing. In his documentary films, he focuses on the destiny of individuals in breakthrough moments of 20th century history: Run for Life (1990) is the first Slovenian documentary film about Goli otok, the toughest political prison in former Yugoslavia. The Eyes of Bosnia (1993) is a film shot during the bloody war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Kocbek, A Poet in the Abyss of History (2004) is a documentary about the life journey of Edvard Kocbek, a poet and spiritual revolutionary. Aufbiks! (2006) is a documentary-fiction film reconstructing national conflicts between Slovenians and Germans in Celje at the turn of the 20th century. Children from Petriček Hill (2007) is a documentary based on interviews with the descendants of alleged or actual Nazi collaborators who were executed by Yugoslav authorities at the end of WW2 and whose children were committed to the Petriček concentration camp. My friend Mujo (2012) is a film about Mujo Turajlić, a man who lost both of his arms in an explosion yet possesses the indomitable spirit to work the fields and provide for his family. The documentary Sing Me a Song (2018) is a complex portrait of the musician Vlado Kreslin and his diverse audiences. The documentary Sarajevo safari (2022) reveals what was a publicly unknown story of foreigners paying money to shoot at residents of besieged Sarajevo.
Miran Zupanič writes screenplays and also directs fiction films: Operation Cartier (1991), Radio.doc (1995), Rascals! (2001), Couples at Stake (2009), Victory, or How Maks Bigec Turned The Wheel of History (2011). Since 1997, Zupanič has been a professor of film directing at the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and TV at the University of Ljubljana.

SHORT FILMOGRAPHY AND AWARDS

1990 Run for Life, director, documentary film
1991 Operation Cartier, director, fiction TV film, 1991
– Audiences Award at the Marathon of Slovenian Film in Portorož 1991
– Two awards from the European Association of Regional TV – Circom Regional Grand Prix Fiction 1992 and Circom Regional Award for Best Direction 1992
1993 The Eyes of Bosnia, director, documentary film
– Metod Badjura Bronze Award 1993
1995 Radio.doc, screenwriter and director, fiction TV film
– First Prize at the screenplay competition for TV drama held by RTV Slovenia Board 1993
– Metod Badjura Gold Award 1995
2001 Rascals!, screenwriter and director, fiction film
– Vesna Award for best cinematography 2001
– Vesna Award for best costume design 2001
– Stop Award for most promising actor
2004 Kocbek, A Poet in the Abyss of History, director, documentary film
– Viktor Award for best TV documentary in 2004
2006 Aufbiks!, director, documentary-fiction film
2007 Made in Slovenia, screenwriter and director, short fiction film
2007 Children from Petriček Hill, screenwriter and director, documentary film
– Vesna Award for best feature film 2007
– Vesna Award for best editing 2007
– Vesna Award for best film score 2007
– Viktor Award for best TV documentary in 2007
– Second Award by choice of audiences in the category of documentary film at Trieste Film Festival 2008
– Erasmus EuroMedia Award of the European Society for Education and Communication, Vienna, Austria, 2008
– Prešern Fund Award 2009
2009 Couples at Stake, director, fiction TV film
– Vesna Award for best actress 2009
2011 Victory, or How Maks Bigec Turned The Wheel of History, screenwriter and director, TV fiction film
– Award at RTV Slovenia’s public anonymous competition for original TV drama and TV film, 2010
2012 My Friend Mujo, screenwriter and director, documentary film
2018 Sing Me a Song, screenwriter and director, feature documentary2020 To Have A Voice, director, feature documentary
2022 Sarajevo safari, screenwriter and director, feature documentary

CO-PRODUCERS

Aljazeera Balkans

Iridium Film

Zvokarna

MB Grip

CO-FUNDED BY

Slovenian Film Centre

TEHNICAL DATA

Format: DCP, 1:1.85, 25/fps; colour

Sound: DCP 5.1.

FESTIVALS AND AWARDS

• 5.AJB DOC Festival Sarajevo, september 2022
• International Film Festival DOKUDOC 2022, Maribor; september 2022 – DOKUDOC 2022;
• 25.Slovenian Film Festival Portorož, oktober 2022;
• The 12. International Crime and Punishment Film Festival, november 2022, Istanbul;