Golden Landslide Award for Zora Dujmović and Fadil Novalić

The Association of Film and TV Directors in Bosnia and Herzegovina has launched the "Golden Landslide Award" which is awarded to individuals most responsible for causing damage to BH cinematography. In a statement sent to the media, they stated that they have selected the Minister of Culture and Sports of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Zora Dujmović, and the Prime Minister of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Fadil Novalić, as this year's "laureates," Patria reports.

- Representatives of the Association met with Mr. Novalić in early 2015 to present their demands and proposals for solutions to initiate the process of improving the current situation in the field of culture, which, as in other social areas, is the result of systematic neglect, fragmentation, and impoverishment.

The Association's demands include the adoption of a cultural strategy in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a return of funding levels for culture to the 2008 level, the adoption of necessary laws on audiovisual art, and the legalization of the Management Board and Supervisory Board foundations and the Sarajevo Film Center, all of which represent essential steps for enabling cultural production and normalizing the work of cultural workers, artists, and institutions.

Communication in most cases during 2015 and 2016 was exclusively one-way, and cooperation and implementation of what was necessary in agreement with Mr. Novalić and Ms. Dujmović could not be achieved in a way that would respect professional recommendations, adopt necessary legal acts, and begin working more transparently and openly. Minister Dujmović has not met with members of the Association of Film and TV Directors in Bosnia and Herzegovina even once since the beginning of her mandate," the statement reads.

For this reason, members of the Association of Film and TV Directors in Bosnia and Herzegovina decided on a public intervention - awarding the "Golden Landslide Award" to Prime Minister Novalić and Minister Dujmović, as individuals who have the opportunity and position to do the most to improve the currently catastrophic situation in the field of film, film production, and culture in general, but failed to do so. We are not criticizing from the position of observers, but as a group of people who have united and are actively working to find ways to improve our situation in the profession we love.

With this act, we want to show that it is possible to work successfully, but unfortunately, all this is possible only up to a certain level, after which every other interest falls by the wayside, and only the interest of political parties applies, which in the case of cinematography is contrary to the interests of the profession and the interests of the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

It has been shown that Mr. Novalić and Ms. Dujmović have most successfully embodied the concept of an obstacle (landslide) on our path, fully identifying with the framework defined by their political affiliation and refusing to act outside of it. All that remains for us is to recognize their success as a failure!

The Golden Landslide Award is given for unprofessional, non-transparent, and irresponsible action. Despite the insistence of the Association of Film and TV Directors in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Law on Cinematography and Audiovisual Creation has not been adopted.

The selection of the director of the Film Center has been halted. The public company Sarajevo Film Center has been destroyed. 

A call for the allocation of funds for 2016 has not been announced, nor have the preconditions for announcing the call for 2016 been created.

The budget for film has been reduced. (Currently, it is 0.8 million euros. For comparison, Croatia, the nearest EU member we aspire to, and approximately similar in population, has an annual budget of nine million euros for cinematography). We remind that for every 1 KM invested, BH cinematography has so far returned 2.5 KM to the budget. 

A permanent Management Board of the Foundations and Supervisory Board of the Film Center has not been elected.

The video for the Golden Landslide Award can be viewed here: 

(Radiosarajevo.ba)