Synopsis

The feature documentary film "Srpska: The Struggle for Freedom" chronicles the history of the people living in what is today Bosnia and Herzegovina, from Medieval times to the modern country. By presenting interesting historical facts about the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian times in the region, as well as the Yugoslav era, both royalist and socialist, the film explains the turbulent past that, at times, shaped European, but also global events. The film discusses important historical personalities, monuments, and events, in order to bring the people of this region closer to the film's viewers, but also explain their historical struggle for self-determination and the preservation of their tradition and culture. The film starts with the beginnings of organized institutions in the areas around the source and lower course of the river Bosna, chronicling the rise of the medieval Bosnian state. Later in history, the fate of the Serbs inhabiting the land is intertwined with that of the Ottoman empire and, eventually, Austria-Hungary's fate. A fateful event in Sarajevo sparked the First World War, which caused a lot of misfortune not only for Bosnia and Herzegovina, but Europe and the world as well. The film then documents the role that this land played in the first Yugoslav state - the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, which later became the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The grave suffering of the people, predominantly Serbs, Jews, Roma, and others, during World War II is presented in the film, together with a more peaceful and prosperous time that followed, as the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was formed, under Tito. The film explains the principle according to which socialist Yugoslavia was organized, but also presents the spirit of that time, which promised centuries of peace. The 1984 Sarajevo Olympics are a theme that runs throughout the film, as an example of what the people of the region could achieve when they put their differences aside and worked together for the common good and healthy competition. The events that led to the bloody wars in the former Yugoslavia are explained chronologically from the beginning to the end of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina with the signing of the Dayton Agreement in 1995 that lead to the formation of an entity called Republika Srpska. Unfortunately, this came after many crimes were committed by all sides, but the film tries to end on a positive note - after so much war and destruction, the nations that inhabit Bosnia and Herzegovina do see a light at the end of the tunnel. With recognition of the suffering of others comes reconciliation, and with that comes the hope that these people will live in freedom and prosperity, as was the wish of many in the past who have struggled to achieve that freedom.—Milos Ninkovic

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