The Tunnel of Salvation does not encompass just the harrowing stories of individuals caught in the turmoil of war in occupied Sarajevo, but is a hommáge to the humanity within us. The tunnel stories illuminate an intimate possibility for salvation, because we genuinely care and do not take everything for granted. Events may be grim, ugly, unjust. Us humans are a tomb of buried feelings, since life does not always slip by as in a dream but is constantly cutting and burning, tearing out flames from within that we never knew were inside us. It lashes at us with icy waves and carries us to and fro like a boat in a storm. There is a moment in everyone’s life that remains, no matter how much time has passed. It is in light of this moment that we manifest our actions, good or wicked, in this light that we fight the battle of our lives. We try not to let the memories, traumas float to the surface, until the barren slumbering night silently presses against us. When the tide is at its lowest, it is necessary to untie our mouths and escape from our heavy anchors. Though our terrors pursue us relentlessly, we must bare our teeth like a wounded dog, though it has just been abused. Memory is not like a grate that can hold back what it has received. Repressed, buried traumas and fears must be dealt with. Until all memory is covered by grass, that uncut hair of the grave, and a new bud proves that death does not truly reign, and to the extent that it ever did, it was a precursor to life. The Tunnel of Salvation is synonymous with the fears trapped within us, but it is also a metaphor for beauty, the everlasting light that shines at the end of the tunnel.
The documentary radio play in Slovene language was created based on the translations of testimonies (Indira Buljubašić, Ismir Hero, Edis Kolar, Fuad Serdarević, Midhat Karić, Selma Catović Hughes, Belma Cuzović, Ena Kukić), recorded in June 2023 in Sarajevo and the Austrian Graz. Witness statements in Bosnian were recorded by Alen Jelen. The documentary radio play Tunnel of Salvation contains excerpts from the monodrama by Nick Teunissen and the short story Regular Sarajevo Story of Indira Buljubašić. In coproduction with the Memorial Centre of the Sarajevo Canton – Museum Tunnel of Salvation, and the Škuc Theatre Ljubljana.
Text: Indira Buljubasic
Cast: Mia Čotić
Narrator: Edis Kolar
Sound: Haris Sahačić
Director: Alen Jelen
Scenario: