If This Were A Movie from the Festival of Small and Experimental Theatre in Sarajevo.
If This Were a Movie (KAD BI OVO BIO FILM…]
The International Theater Festival (MESS) has been held in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina since the 1960s and welcomes numerous theaters from all over the world. It initially started out as a festival of experimental and alternative performances (MESS is literally an abbreviation for: Small and Experimental Stages, Sarajevo). However, it soon outgrew this format and became one of the major theatre events in Former Yugoslavia. The best classical plays found a place there along with the best accomplishments in alternative theatre. With the beginning of the Bosnian war (1992 – 1995), the Festival was discontinued, but, by 1993 and with a new Bosnian-centric focus, it had already changed into an International Theatre and Film Festival. Regardless of the exceptionally difficult circumstances (as Sarajevo was under siege all four years), many theater plays and documentary films were presented. The MESS also organized numerous art exhibitions and managed to publish a number of new books, as well as to organize the “After the End of the World” film festival at that time.
After the war, the yearly tradition of bringing together the best theatre productions from all over the world continued. During the last 15 years, about 600 international plays have been presented at the festival and prominent artists, such as Peter Brook, Giorgio Strehler, Robert Wilson, Eugenio Barba, Josef Nadj, Roberto Ciulli, Anne Teresa de Keersmaker, Eimuntas Nekrosius, Oscaras Koršunovas, Alvis Hermanis, Olivier Py, Mark Tompkins and Wlodzimierz Staniewski have taken part. This year MESS, which was held from September 28th to October 7th, hosted performances by theaters from Italy, Poland, USA, Mexico, Brazil, France, and Israel, as well as from the Former Yugoslav countries.
“If This Were a Movie…” (“Kad bi ovo bio film…”) by Almir Imširević would be very difficult to understand for anybody who is not familiar with the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a Former Yugoslav republic and as a newly established country after the Bosnian war. Before the Bosnian war, Yugoslav peoples (Muslims, Serbs, Croats, Jews and more than 20 other nationalities) lived, loved, laughed and cried together. So when, weeks before the start of the war, groups of people began innocuously trickling out of the city, there were no alarm bells at first for many, since it was unfathomable that a war could happen; that neighbors and close friends of different nations would turn against each other was beyond belief. It was so unbelievable that many, as knowledgeable and experienced as they could be, were in denial until it was too late. Most of those who left the city believed that they would be back in a month or two, when all the silly turmoil was over. Unfortunately, this was not to be the case. After four years of war, when peace finally came, the country was devastated, not only materially but also intellectually. Hundreds of thousands of men, women and children perished or were displaced and the country changed its face completely.
“If It Were a Movie…” is the story about a family in Sarajevo during the Bosnian war (1992-1995). The play opens days before the start of the war, where life seems to be the same as ever for an average city family – passionate photographer Ibro, his wife Esma, their two sons Irfan and Aladin, and intellectual aunt Indira. As the play progresses, strange things begin to happen. First, a number of Jews start leaving the city, followed by women and children and then, suddenly, it is Ibro’s best friend, Dusan (a Bosnian Serb; Ibro is a Muslim) who leaves too. He comes to bid him farewell and to ask Esma and Aladin a favour. He gives the keys to his apartment to Esma and implores her to take care of his wife’s flowers and he leaves an old Bible (a memento of his father, left from the time of another war) to Aladin for safekeeping. In the following days, the family comes to understand that war has crept into Sarajevo.
Author Almir Imširević and director Dino Mustafić use the story of Ibro’s family to tell us the destiny of a number of Sarajevo’s residents. They start the play days before the war specifically to emphasize details which show how neighbors share true friendship regardless of religion or nationality and how they respect and trust each other. After this, the audience is taken on an incredible journey through a very difficult time. They show the changes brought on by a horrific situation and the influx of a different, until than unknown, kind of people who lack city education and manners they knew before the war, but possess the power of weapons and only understand the language of violence.
Almir Imsirevic, a 41 years old Bosnian author (born 1971) couldn’t produce anything other than a deep and emotional story. Preoccupied with the truth behind the Bosnian conflict and in an attempt to understand its impact on the country and its people years later, he wrote several plays with the same theme, which garnered him much success. His “If This Were a Play…” has been put into an Anthology of 20th century Bosnian drama and a few of his dramas were also translated into French and published by L’espace d’un Instant ("Si c’etait un spectacle”, “Le diable des balkans” and “Le cirque inferno”) and performed in theatres in France.
“If This Were a Movie…” is a continuation of “If This Were a Play…” Although both deal with Bosnian war-era Sarajevo and have echoes of political theatre, while “If This Were a Play…” explores guilt in the aftermath, Imsirevic does not deal with blame or politics in “If This Were a Movie…” He concerns himself instead with the destiny of ordinary people. Digging deep into their minds and emotions, he explores the relationship between the events and people’s transformation by them. One of the Ibro’s sons, Aladin, expresses this best at the end of the play. Commenting on his brother’s immersion in religion, he says that, while Irfan has started to fervently believe in God, has completely lost his belief in people. Throughout the play, it is obvious that the search for answers to the conflict and the change and suffering it inflicted on so many is impossible. In an attempt to understand a time that will crush the characters’ world forever, he weaves a subtle but powerful story enveloped with warmth, love, humour, and disappointment.
The director, Dino Mustafić (who is also the Festival director) does a marvelous job of connecting the events into a breath-taking theater performance. This is his first play with a national theme. Until now, he has directed a variety of programs, movies and documentaries. He has directed works by well-known writers such as Sartre, Shakespeare, Nick Wood, Schwab and others in all countries of Former Yugoslavia and has toured at theater festivals in Egypt, Germany and Italy. His movie, “Remake,” was premiered at the 2003 International Film Festival in Rotterdam, where it was chosen as one of the five best movies at the Festival. After this, it went on to show at festivals in Montreal, Istanbul, Paris and Rome. It won the New Director’s prize in San Francisco and got "One Future Award” in Munich. His decision to shift his work toward more local matters was welcomed in Sarajevo by theater professionals and theatre lovers alike.
Mustafic takes a step down the path of his own memories, and gives life to Imsirevic’s imaginative story. The structure of the play cooperates fully with the text. Wisely chosen light effects and a functional set design make transitions natural and a simple, as well as quick and efficient. Beautifully incorporated photographs and videos add a further emotional level. Set at the far end of the stage, a musical group plays a nostalgic melody. All these elements are there for a reason, each one giving an additional dimension to the performance. Timing is just perfect, adding depth and emotional strength. Some of the best actors, including veterans such as Miralem Zupcevic, one of the most celebrated actors in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Jasna Zalica, a theater/TV star and a professor of non-verbal acting aspects at the Performing Arts Studies at the University of Sarajevo, give their all to make the play a major success. Both actors are known for their strong ability to transform and infuse life to the characters on the stage or on the screen so that the audience feels their sincerity in every scene.
Many must have recognized their own destiny, confusion and thoughts in the story and relived the terror of war and the disillusionment that followed it. No wonder a standing ovation was the reward for a job well done.
From the International Theatre Festival MESS, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
If This Were a Movie…
(Kad bi ovo bio film…]
Production: Narodno pozorište Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Author: Almir Imširević
Directon: Dino Mustafić
Cast
Miralem Zupčević
Ljiljana Dragutinović
Aleksandar Seksan
Aldin Omerović
Jasna Žalica
Izudin Bajrovic
Stage Design: Dragutin Broz
Costume Design: Blagoj Micevski
Music: Damir Imamović
Light Design: Ognjen Martinović