news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4424293.stm 08/04/2005 Television stations in all of the countries which once made up Yugoslavia are broadcasting a new programme which aims to restore communication between friends and families divided by the Balkan wars>>> The idea is simple: the screening of "videoletters" between ordinary people. In their home in Croatia, the Krilcic family gather round their television set. Zeljko Krilcic puts a tape into the video and presses play. On the screen appears Zoran Tanasijevic and his son Vlada. Zoran, a Serb from Belgrade, used to work with Zeljko. Their children used to holiday together. But that was before the Croatian war began in 1991, and all contact between the two families was broken. Until now. Crossing states The message is brief. Zoran says: "Hello to the Krilcic family. Ten years after we last saw you we are alive and well. And I hope you are. We would like to hear from you and see you. Goodbye." As one, the Krilcic family begin weeping. I saw the first three episodes of this series and I was speechless - other TV executives were in tears Milan Trivic, Ivica says: "It was nice to see Vlada again. I was worried that he had been sent to fight in Kosovo. That he might have been killed." They later meet in person. This reconciliation has come about because of two Dutch videojournalists, Eric van den Broek and Katarina Rejger, who spent five years criss-crossing the Balkans with a video camera and a simple question: "Is there anyone from your past that you'd like to contact?" "We would meet people who would say 'I'm so disappointed with my friend because he never called me during the war'," says Eric.
Katarina adds: "We asked them 'what is the reason why you haven't been in touch?' And they would have reasons in their heads which weren't real at all." The participants are invariably from different sides of the ethnic faultlines that dominated the Balkan wars. They include Serbs, Croats, Bosnian Muslims (Bosniaks) and Kosovar Albanians. Television stations in every country, from Slovenia in the north to Macedonian in the south, along with Kosovo, have agreed to broadcast the Videoletters project. Sad news Milan Trivic from Bosnia-Hercegovina Television (BHT) says: "I saw the first three episodes of this series and I was speechless. Other TV executives were in tears. "I think it will have an impact in changing the way people think. They will think less about their country and more about relations between their friends." The episodes are certainly moving. In one, a Bosnian woman appeals to a former soldier to help her find the bodies of her children, killed during the war. In another, a Croat tries to get in touch with an old friend, only to receive a videoletter from his friend's relative, saying that he is no longer alive. In a third, a Muslim wants to know from his childhood best friend if there is truth in the stories that he was involved in the massacre of civilians. There are a lot of tears, but most simply want to know one thing: "How are you?" |
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