On April 6^th, 1992, the city of Sarajevo in Bosnia-Herzegovina reverberated with the sound of gunfire that signaled the start of a bloody siege that lasted for almost four years. When the shooting finally stopped, 12,000 citizens of Sarajevo had been killed, 60,000 more of them wounded. Two thousand of the dead were children.

This short film, SEVEN LILIES, is one of my two digital film projects documenting the effects of the siege of Sarajevo. For over 3 years I have also been working on SARAJEVO ROSES, a more personal account of the war.

I spent most of the war years working in Bosnia as a photojournalist, focusing my camera on the daily lives of the people of besieged Sarajevo. Then as now I found it bewildering how the leaders of the world could avert their eyes and refuse to stop the mass murder that was taking place on the streets of a modern European city at the end of the 20^th century. This fact alone makes what happened one of the most shameful events in modern times. It was a dress rehearsal for the genocide in Rwanda, which occurred two years after the violence in Bosnia began.

The people in other parts of the world, particularly the USA and western Europe, dismissed the bloodshed in Bosnia as acts that could only be committed by ‘uncivilized people and barbarians’ who are ‘not like us’.

That was one of the things that disturbed me, and part of why I have felt compelled to make films about the war. The people of this region are just like people anywhere else in the world. In my view, the viciousness of the breakup of Yugoslavia exemplifies how people of different ethnicity or religion who live in peace together can be turned against each other if all the forces of order and reason in society break down. This could happen anywhere.

SYNOPSIS

SEVEN LILIES is the story of Adnan Rustempasic, a gentle man who was forced to pick up a gun when the Serbs began raining artillery shells down on Sarajevo. Adnan spent much of the siege helping defend a bitterly-disputed piece of territory, the Vrbanja (ver-ban-ya) bridge in the center of Sarajevo. The bridge, spanning the Miljacka (mil-yat-ska) river that runs through the city, separated the Serbs and the Bosnians and was a strategically important part of the city. The two sides faced each other and traded sniper and mortar fire from gutted buildings on both banks of the river. The area in front was a no-man’s-land and designated free-fire zone. Anything that moved was shot. Scores of fighters on both sides died here, and the Serbs realized that their attempts to capture the bridge had ended in a bloody stalemate. It became a war of attrition, where both Serb and Bosnian soldiers fought hardest to stay alive. Adnan Rustempasic experienced this hell, his comrades dying around him as they defended their beloved city.

One summer day in 1993, about 1 ½ years after the beginning of the siege, Adnan was home from the frontline at his apartment. A neighbor’s child knocked on his door and asked if Adnan’s young son, Sanjin (san-yin), could come out to play in the courtyard of the apartment building. He said yes, as the day had been relatively quiet as far as the Serb shelling of the city was concerned. Four-year-old Sanjin and a group of playmates were having a good time, making good use of their opportunity to play outside as parents tried as much as possible to keep their children indoors for safety from snipers and shells.

Suddenly, with no warning, a huge explosion rocked the apartment complex. A mortar shell fired from Serb positions above the city had landed in the courtyard. When the smoke cleared, seven children, including Sanjin Rustempasic, had been blown to pieces.

The news flashed around the world, and reaction was generally one of outrage at another massacre of innocents in Sarajevo. But nothing changed.

Except for Adnan. He survived the war but a part of him died that day.

The film, shot cinema verite style with no narration and using only subtitles and natural sound, follows Adnan on his first visit back to the old frontline after the war ended. He describes the events of that sad summer day in 1993, and the camera follows him back to the place where his son died.

SEVEN LILIES also shows how many people died via a visit to the infamous Lion cemetery, where Serb snipers and artillery gunners targeted citizens gathered to bury their dead. A mentally unbalanced woman gives the viewer a glimpse into her personal hell as she tends the grave of a famous Bosnian film director who died during Sarajevo’s siege.

EQUIPMENT

I decided to use a digital video camera to bring my film ideas to life. The camera I chose, the Canon XL-1 ($3750), offered me a relatively lightweight unit with excellent image quality and precise control of sound. The other aesthetic consideration was the camera’s Frame Movie mode, which approximates the look of film by capturing 30 full frames per second. Coupled with the XL-1’s warm image tone, the look of the DV footage is something in between film and video, a unique quality that has been commented on by people who have seen parts of the film. One either likes it or hates it.

For sound, I used the XL-1’s supplied microphone, adding a Lightwave Systems Equalizer ($130) to replace the supplied foam cover. The sound was improved in tone and I had protection from wind noise and sound pops. Before I bought this accessory I lost some nice footage I shot on a windy day because the audio was completely unusable. My lavalier microphone was Samson’s UM-1 UHF system ($350), a low-cost unit that gives excellent quality for the money. I upgraded the microphone to a Sony ECM-77 ($250), one of the smallest and sweetest-sounding lavaliers around. The Canon MA-100 XLR ($180) audio connector doubled as a solid shoulder rest for the camera.

For shooting in tight confines, I added Century Optics’ .6X wideangle adapter ($300) for the XL-1 to my bag, with the accessory lens shade ($190) that accepts 3” round filters. The whole thing cost about $500, much less than Canon’s 3X wideangle lens ($1240) for the XL-1.

I always use headphones to monitor the audio when I shoot. The set I found most suitable for my needs was an Optimus Titanium ($40) with gold-plated contacts, available from Radio Shack. It has adjustable volume control and fits very comfortably and flat when using the XL-1.

My tripod was the Bogen/Manfrotto 3211 ($110) with the 3063 mini fluid head ($95), with midlevel ball leveler ($75). As I would be moving on foot around Sarajevo most of the time, my old way of working from during the war, I needed a very sturdy yet relatively light tripod that I could sling over my shoulder. This unit fit the bill perfectly. I recently considered another tripod but the only one that I would buy to replace this one would be a Vinten costing about $1200. I’m staying with the Bogen/Manfrotto for now as most of my work is done with handheld camera.

My second camera was a Canon Elura ($1100). Extremely small and light, I used it with its WD-46 wideangle adapter and base unit for stability. I was able to use this camera to work without drawing a second glance from people around me. The Elura’s 2.5 inch fold-out LCD screen allowed me a way to check my daily rushes without having to bring a separate monitor.

For carrying the XL-1 and most of its accessories, I used the Porta-Brace Traveler ($220), a case specially designed for camcorders such as the XL-1 and the Sony DSR-200A. It is made of blue water-resistant cordura nylon, specially reinforced and padded and fits in an airliner’s overhead luggage bin.

Finally, my choice of mini-DV tape stock. After testing Panasonic tapes, which I hated because of dropouts in the tape, I settled on the Sony DVM-60PR2 ($8-10). Great color and reliability.

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