ZAFRANOVIĆ: I DEDICATE THE FILM TO ALL VICTIMS

BANJA LUKA, OCTOBER 3 /SRNA/ - Director of the film The Golden Cut 42 – The Children of Kozara, Lordan Zafranović, said in Banja Luka on Saturday evening, following the premiere of the film about the suffering of the Serbian people in the Independent State of Croatia, that the truth simply had to be told.

Zafranović stressed that he dedicates the film to all victims, noting that there is not a single household in the Potkozarje region that does not have a victim who was brutally killed in a manner that was not human.

"I felt ashamed at that moment when I saw the things, the documents and the photographs, when I heard the testimonies. I felt ashamed to be a human being, to be of that kind. This film was made sincerely; I could not have done more than this," Zafranović said.

He said this was one of the first films he had made in which no one interfered with his work.

"No one came as a producer, or as a politician, or as a censor telling me to cut something out, shorten it, or make it differently. I made this film completely freely. And I was able to make it thanks in part to Republika Srpska," Zafranović said.

Zafranović said that tonight in Banja Luka he felt an overwhelming sense of kindness and gratitude toward everyone who worked on the film.

"There were many difficult moments, a difficult birth, but it has been born, and now it is setting out into the world. We will see how it will be received and how far it will reach. But that is the fate of every film," Zafranović told reporters.

He added that he made the film without abandoning his own artistic vision, but for a wide audience, so that everyone who watches it will know where Jasenovac is and what actually happened there.

"So this film will reopen the issue of Jasenovac. There will be many opponents, because there are so many revisionists that you can hardly count them. So there will be a lot of insults and harsh criticism. There will be praise as well, of course," Zafranović said, expressing particular gratitude to President Milorad Dodik for his help and support.

"I thank Republika Srpska, which contributed almost a third of the funding for this film. Without Republika Srpska, this film would not have been made; it would not have been created," Zafranović said.

He added that the film would face a particularly difficult path to reaching audiences in Europe, which, as he put it, "is actually responsible for everything that happened during the Second World War."

He also thanked the entire film crew, as well as all the surviving inmates of the Jasenovac camp, stressing that each of their stories could be a film in its own right.

The cast also attended the Banjaluka premiere of The Golden Cut 42 – The Children of Kozara, held at the Borik Sports Centre, and said that working on the project had been difficult, but a rewarding and noble experience.

The premiere was attended by Republika Srpska President Siniša Karan, National Assembly Speaker Nenad Stevandić, President Milorad Dodik, Acting Director of the Office for International Cooperation Ana Trišić Babić, and numerous representatives of Republika Srpska’s political, social and cultural life.