FILMING TO TAKE PLACE IN BIH Too: Film about Tvrtko Vujić, the man who saw and filmed hell, and today seeks paradise

As a boy, he dreamed of being a miner, but today he digs all over the world in search of a story. Journalist and publicist, Tvrtko Vujić is Hungarian by nationality, Croat by ethnicity, and by deep roots a Herzegovinian from Buna.

His ancestors have, over the past 450 years, traveled from Buna, through Croatia, to Pécs, a town in Hungary where the Vujić family, today Vijity, settled.

Tvrtko was born into a family of a miner and a teacher, and he was named nothing more and nothing less than after the medieval King of Bosnia, Tvrtko Kotromanić.

Tvrtko lives in Hawaii today

Today, Tvrtko lives in Hawaii, and he has had numerous trips around the world, during which, as he says, he saw hell. That is why he is in Hawaii today, earthly paradise.

Sanjeev Chatterjee, founder and president of Media for Change from Miami, has reached an agreement with Tvrtko Vujity about filming a documentary about Tvrtko's work and life. This will be part of Media for Change's transmedia project, which aims to emphasize the importance of visualizing a bright future.

Chatterjee first met Tvrtko at the University of Miami's School of Communication, where the Hungarian studied journalism in the mid-1990s on a Voice of America scholarship. Chatterjee is a professor of film and journalism at the school. Tvrtko's work during the Yugoslav wars brought him many accolades, including the Pulitzer Memorial Medal / Hungarian Pulitzer.

"Although Tvrtko never took my class, he helped me with my PBS / History Channel documentary 'Out of the Shadow of History' (1997) - about peacekeeping in former Yugoslavia," said Chatterjee. They remained in contact for years, and Tvrtko worked on the Hungarian segments of Chatterjee's feature-length documentary 'One Water' (2007).

Chatterjee won numerous awards for this film.

Tvrtko regularly visits Srebrenica and pays tribute to the victims of genocide

Tvrtko became widely known in Hungary and the region for his impressive stories. His storytelling helped repatriate the last Hungarian prisoner of war from World War II who languished in a Russian mental asylum in remote Tatarstan. His stories from Chernobyl helped secure compensation for Hungarian haulers affected by radiation from the accident site. He reported from North Korea, Rwanda, Haiti... the list is long.

His 13-part series "Stories from Hell" sold over a million copies and has been translated into many languages. His public lecture series Tvrtko - Beyond All Borders filled halls and stadiums across Europe, and beyond.

In 2020, Tvrtko told Chatterjee that he was no longer interested in stories from hell on earth, but rather in discovering paradise. This was the moment when Chatterjee took responsibility for following Tvrtko's journey.

"Good stories have a plot, and I saw this as a major turning point in Tvrtko's trajectory. This is what dreams are made of - it's not a fixed North Star. You have to adapt," said Chatterjee.

Tvrtko Vujić currently lives with his family in Hawaii; Tvrtko says he enjoys the "aloha life." He no longer has his own prime-time TV show. Although he still works with television channels, Tvrtko is now in direct contact with his transnational audience via Facebook and other platforms. At the end of 2020, Tvrtko held a successful ticketed Facebook show. "I am amazed that my followers have remained loyal during this transition," said Tvrtko.

A documentary film "Where Dreams Come From" is currently in production, and plans include online engagement, short-form content, and a feature-length documentary. Filming began in Hawaii in January 2021.

Vujić tells Patria that he told the film's authors that Bosnia and Herzegovina must be a location where part of the film will be shot, which has been agreed upon.

"I gladly think that I am, in a way, a miner who seeks light in the darkness and who still has another path ahead," says Tvrtko.