The documentary "Testifying the Siege" is accompanying the electro-acoustic installation "Symphony of the Siege" by Haris Sahacic and a music composition by Mirsada Zeco. All three artistic works are based on the academic research and recorded testimonies of fifteen survivors of the siege of Sarajevo.
The documentary is both a continuation of academic research and an integral part of research methodology. Its primary function is to illustrate testimonies of the fifteen war survivors, but it is also envisioned as a complimentary and mirrored image of the electro-acoustic composition “Symphony of the Siege” and music composition "Peace". Thus, the documentary is structured in the same order, from the large scale, such as the breaking of the sound barrier at the city level to that of the neighborhood and the city and finally ending at the most intimate scale of an individual experience of sounds personal loss.
The documentary film is the narration of sonic war memories of the fifteen witnesses that were interviewed for the project in relation to their sonic experience during the siege of Sarajevo. It consists of four parts: Sound of War, Sound as Orientation and Movement, Sound of Resistance and Silence. Each of the four parts explores a particular set of sounds as it relates to the war and the witnesses' psychological adaptation to the new soundscape.
The three artistic components were to be premiered at the exhibition title "Sound Life Line" at the Historical Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina in April, 2023 under the umbrella of MESS Festival.
Credits
Project Co-coordinator in front of IBU: Lejla Odobašić Novo
Producers: Lejla Odobašić Novo, Emir Klepo and Adnan Novalić
Director: Lejla Odobašić Novo, Emir Klepo
Creative Concept and Academic Lead: Lejla Odobašić Novo
DOP: Emir Klepo
1st Camera: Emir Klepo
2nd Camera: Semina Bulić, Ismar Begtasević
Editor: Emir Klepo
Assistant Editor: Azra Selimović
Sound mixing: Borjan Milošević
Subtitles: Nedima Krndžija
Production Assistants: Semina Bulić, Abudllah Idrazić, Ismar Begtasević, Hamza Makić
Set photographers| BTS: Abdullah Ibradžić Hamza Mekić
Interview transcripts: Abudllah Idrazić
Research Team: Lejla Odobašić Novo (lead), Emir Klepo, Haris Sahačić, Adnan Novalić
Interviewees: Adela Jusić, Adi Sarajlić, Dina Memić,Džemil Hodžić, Enes Zlatar, Enrico Dagnino, Husein Mahmutović, Mirsad Tukić, Mirza Ćorić, Nermina Zilđo, Nihad Ćengić, Nihad Kreševljaković, Paul Lowe, Sabina Tanović, Zoran Doršner
