The journey from Sarajevo to the eastern Bosnian town of Srebrenica leads through a beautiful landscape. It is the middle of July. The countryside that seems so peaceful today was the scene 29 years ago of one of the worst war crimes in Europe since the Second World War, which went down in history as the Srebrenica massacre. On 11 July 1995, Serbian militias stormed the UN protection zone of Srebrenica during the Balkan war. In the presence of Dutch UN blue helmets, more than 8,000 Muslims, including minors, were killed by the Serbs and buried in mass graves. Survivors are still searching for their relatives to this day. The remains found are buried every year on 11 July.

Most tourists today visit the Memorial Centre and the cemetery in the village of Potoćari near Srebrenica, where the main base of the Dutch UN peacekeeping forces was once located. Today it serves as a memorial and memorial site. Hasan Hasanovic has been working at the Memorial Centre for 16 years. In July 1995, he fled Srebrenica with his twin brother, father and uncle to the security zone in the city of Tuzla. He was the only one to survive the so-called death march. “My family members who were killed and all the other victims are the reason why I returned to Srebrenica. They can no longer speak for themselves. We have to be their voice now,” he explains. He explains that the international community and Europe initially showed very little interest in the genocide. But thanks to the commitment of the survivors, who reported on the genocide worldwide, this changed.

The mothers of Srebrenica have made a major contribution to visibility. Women whose male relatives were killed have forced the United Nations to find the victims and hold those responsible for the genocide to account.”One of their greatest successes is the Srebrenica Resolution, which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in May this year,” says Hasan.Nevertheless, it is difficult for him to remain optimistic.This is also due to the fact that the country has not come to terms with the past: “It is difficult to create political stability and boost the economy so that young people stay in the country.”However, he also senses some optimistic steps.He has written several books and gives lectures around the world.Working with young people is particularly important to him: “It raises their awareness that genocide can no longer be denied and historical revisionism is no longer possible.”

A summer boot camp for young people is taking place just one kilometre away from the Memorial Centre.”It’s the 19th anniversary this year,” says 27-year-old Enver Pezerović.The likeable Bosnian has been working for the International Forum for Solidarity EMMAUS, which set up the camp, for two years.He also initially worked as a volunteer for three years: “The humanitarian work and the friendships awakened in me the desire to work for this NGO on a permanent basis.When they offered me a position in 2022, I accepted immediately”.He lives and works in the town of Doboj, where EMMAUS is based.He works as a driver for the NGO, at the work camp he is the man for everything and an absolute optimist: “Yes, we had a war here.But that’s over.
Today there are hardly any provocations by Serbs in the town of Srebrenica, except on 11 July. But even those are exceptional cases,” he explains.

This year, 70 volunteers from five different countries, including Serbia, have come together. They are continuing to expand the camp, visiting the mothers of Srebrenica and elderly people in the neighbouring villages to bring them a hot meal and help with household chores.Or they simply keep them company.It is astonishing that hardly anyone in the country knows about this camp.”In 2020, we organised an open-air cinema during the work camp.The media weren’t interested.When someone stuck a small picture of war criminal Ratko Mladic on a pillar, 16 media outlets came and reported on it.That was the big news.Nobody wanted to report on the fact that 80 young people from all over the world and the region, including Serbia and Republika Srpska, had just met here to work as volunteers,” says Ado Hasanovic.The Italian director with roots in Srebrenica has been working here himself as a volunteer since 2019.

His family comes from the town of Bratunac near Potoćari, where he was born and grew up.Together with EMMAUS and the organisation Admon Film, a Sarajevo-based cultural association for the promotion of film culture, he has set up a film workshop.This has been very popular with the volunteers for years.During the day, they learn how to document their activities.In the evening, the material is edited into a short film and shown at the evening get-together.

He looks across the campus: “At first, it was shocking for me to see how young people from all over the world are rebuilding the infrastructure in the region.When you see what they have achieved in the last 19 years, it is very impressive.”Ado was six years old when the war began.His grandfather was killed and his remains have still not been found.His father was an amateur filmmaker and cameraman in Srebrenica in the security zone and documented the events of the time.
“I got my love of film from him. Filming helps me heal from all the traumas I experienced during the war. It’s a good way of distancing myself from the terrible events and talking about them at the same time.”

This is how he launched the international Silverframe Film Festival, which took place for the first time this summer work camp.
The theme?Everything but war.”We want to build bridges here with films that connect us.Yes, it’s true that there are still many people who deny the genocide. But that shouldn’t be a reason to only talk about the past.It is very important to build a future with new projects,” explains Ado.

Now they work during the day, take part in workshops with mentors and watch films in the evening.The jury for the award is made up of volunteers and young people from the region.Award-winning films from Cannes, Sundance and Sarajevo will also be shown.This festival is also intended to promote talented young people from the region: “We want to show that there is talent at European and international level here too,” says Ado.

Anna Rammskogler-Witt, co-founder of the Dokumentale in Berlin, presents a German documentary film here: “I was enthusiastic about the idea of organising a film festival in Srebrenica that had nothing to do with the genocide.
I also knew the concept of this work camp.Ado is basically doing the same thing, but in a cinematic and artistic context.She was very impressed by her visit to the mothers of Srebrenica, who now live right next to the camp in a newly opened retirement home.She was allowed to film as the women talked to a young director about climate change.

The young director is 27-year-old Dino Gluhović from Mostar. He only knows Srebrenica through several visits to the Memorial Centre and the cemetery.He also knows that many young people are leaving Srebrenica: “That’s because this region is only associated with the genocide.They are trapped in this history and can hardly free themselves from it.”He came to the film festival as a mentor after hearing about the camp: “Here, the young participants are doing something useful and telling a different story from here.” He wanted to talk to the residents of the retirement home about a completely different topic.They rarely receive visitors.And when they do, the conversations usually centre on the war.His topic: nature then and now.He wanted the residents to talk about their childhood and how the climate here has changed over the years.Whenever they fell back into sadness, he tried to compensate.He did this with parlour games.The young son of a mentor joined in.The child’s enthusiasm infected them and the old good memories came flooding back: “The moment when the child in them reawakens is the moment when you know you’ve won.When I saw the smile on their lips, my heart was filled,” says Gluhovic.

Serbian director Stevan Filipovic, who lives in the Serbian capital Belgrade, was happy to be able to support the crossover project with his participation: “A director who lost part of his family in the genocide is developing this courageous film project that respects the victims of Srebrenica and at the same time gives life back to the community in Srebrenica.”

The common interest in film and environmental protection united the young people from all over Europe and the region: “The micro-division of the country of Yugoslavia has brought us to the same point.If there is an environmental disaster in Serbia, it will also affect the neighbouring countries.”He says that the participants at the camp are aware that they all have to work together in the same direction to make a difference: “I really hope that young people will take responsibility and be smarter than our generation,” he says thoughtfully.

Does he believe in a better future for Srebrenica? Yes, history is very complicated, but the path that Ado and the youth camp are taking is the only possible way to a hopeful future for young people.

Ado Hasanović sits around the campfire with other mentors from the film festival and listens to the sounds of the guitar: “Of course it is important not to forget the past in order to keep the memory alive.But Srebrenica has other problems, such as environmental pollution and migration.For me, Srebrenica is not a grave, but a town that wants to return to life despite the terrible events of the past.

Mirella Sidro, Sarajevo