IKONIĆ: FILM "THE LINE" BEFORE AUDIENCE DURING REPUBLIKA SRPSKA DAY MARKING

BELGRADE, AUGUST 26 /SRNA/ – The film "The Line," which tells the story of the heroic deeds of beloved Serbian surgeon Miodrag Lazić and the staff of the Žiča wartime hospital, while also recounting the biblical exodus of around 150,000 Serbs from Sarajevo, is currently in post-production and is scheduled to be presented to the public on the occasion of the marking of Republika Srpska Day – January 9 next year, producer Goran Ikonić told SRNA.

"The rough cut has been completed and we are moving on to picture and sound processing. We are still expecting some additional funding in order to finalize everything. The film is extremely expensive, and we made it with extremely modest budgetary resources," Ikonić said.

According to him, the film was shot at more than 80 locations over 71 shooting days, with more than 4,000 extras and 80 actors.

He emphasized that the film turned out the way those working on it had expected and hoped, and that he was confident the audience would be satisfied.

Ikonić said that the strongest impression on him during filming was made by the exodus scene, which involved 1,500 extras and 200 vehicles.

"During those days, we also filmed several other, no less important large-scale scenes in Istočno Sarajevo – the carrying out of the cross, a liturgy… We received such tremendous support from the people that we are extremely satisfied. The plan was to make six episodes, but when we saw all those people who came, it created an obligation for us to portray the exodus separately, so there will be two more episodes," he noted.

Ikonić believes that The Line will be a valuable contribution to the culture of remembrance and will draw attention to important historical facts that have been marginalized for decades.

"At the centre of the film is Dr. Lazić, his humanity, and his treatment and saving of people who came to the Žiča hospital – not only Serbs who were endangered and needed help, but everyone else as well. Through this story, we will also tell part of the story of the exodus, when more than 130,000 Serbs, according to some information 150,000, voluntarily left Sarajevo and were displaced for the sake of the establishment of Republika Srpska and the establishment of peace," Ikonić said.

He pointed out that this was a biblical exodus that was not sufficiently known to the public.

"Most people do not even know about it, so this will be an important historical document that will remain. We hope it will also be interesting for people to watch, because of all those scenes, and I think the audience will be satisfied, while history will be grateful for what we have done," Ikonić stressed.

Recalling that the Serbs have a biblical exodus in their history under Patriarch Arsenije Čarnojević, who in 1690 led between 30,000 and 70,000 people from Kosovo and Metohija, Ikonić said that no one had spoken about the exodus of Sarajevo Serbs in the 20th century and that the vast majority of the public, both locally and especially internationally, did not even know that it had happened.

"So, in itself, this will carry enormous weight, and I think it will open a new page in history in terms of the sacrifice of a people. We had that case in history under Čarnojević, when the Serbs voluntarily left their homes, and this is the second case in which that happened," Ikonić said.

He emphasized that it was by God's will that both the first and the final scenes of The Line were filmed at Kovilj Monastery, and that the film crew received the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Porfirije of Serbia at the beginning of filming.

"I do not think we could have made the film without the blessing and God's help. There were complex scenes, but from beginning to end we completed the filming in the best possible way. No one even injured a little finger, although we used live ammunition and fired from tanks and aircraft. All sorts of things happened, but with God's help and the assistance of the professionals involved in the project, we managed to complete everything as planned," he said.

The Line is a historical anti-drama inspired by motifs from Dr. Miodrag Lazić's War Diary, directed by Dragan Elčić.