This post is also available in: Bosnian
The film None Will Speak the Truth, authored by Detektor journalist Azra Husaric Omerovic, will be screened as part of the “BH Film” Programme on August 18.
In July 1992, Esef Dzenanovic was separated from his family and forcibly taken to one of the detention camps in Prijedor. He survived torture in three detention camps.
But before being exchanged and saved from certain death, he learned that his mother, sister, wife and two underage sons were no longer waiting for him at home.
Husaric Omerovic explains that the film was made following the marking of White Armband Day in Prijedor in 2022, when she first met Esef together with her colleague, Enes Hodzic.
“Holding three white roses, Esef stood outside the large groups of people, families, friends standing in a line for roses and ribbons with names of killed children. When we approached him, accompanied by a friend of his, hoping we would talk to him, he only briefly said that they had killed his mother, sister, wife, and two little sons,” Husaric Omerovic recalls.
She added that, every year, he brings three roses for his killed underage sons Alen and Ajdin, as well as his sister, Majda.
On that day, Esef had no strength to talk. Husaric Omerovic says that, by researching his family, she learned that he lost his entire family on July 23, 1992, when he and his father were imprisoned in detention camps. To this day, he has not found the remains of his family.
More than 30 years after the war, Esef is still searching for any information about his family, hoping that they will be buried with dignity and that their souls will rest in peace. He finds the will to live and relief from nightmares by the water; he goes fishing every day.
The film is directed by Azra Husaric Omerovic, edited by Elvedin Zorlak, and the screenplay and editing are by Semir Mujkic and Dzana Brkanic. The executive producer is BIRN BiH director Denis Dzidic. The director of photography is Alen Alilovic, while Emir Dzanan is the cameraman. The sound was recorded by Samir Hrkovic, and the music was composed by Damir Imamovic. The sound processing is credited to Nedim Imamovic.
Detektor has worked on this film for over two years. The scenes and dialogues were filmed in Esef’s family house yard in Prijedor, his current home in Switzerland, and on Swiss and Bosnian lakes, where he seeks to find peace.
“The sadness with which Esef lives every day and his way of coping motivated us to persevere in this idea and to make a film about a man whose everything was killed in July 1992, along with hope.
“Our desire is for this film to encourage those who have information about the location of their grave to speak up, so that their souls may rest, and Esef may find peace,” Husaric Omerovic said.
The 31st Sarajevo Film Festival will be held from August 15 to 22. None Will Speak the Truth will be screened as part of the “BH Film” Programme.
As part of the Sarajevo Film Festival, the Association of Film Workers of Bosnia and Herzegovina is organising the “Bosnian Film Festival” Programme, presenting films from Bosnia as well as films by local authors living and working abroad.
Tickets for None Will Speak the Truth can be purchased in the pre-sale starting Monday, August 4.
