Zlatko Pranjic & Nanna Frank Møller: The Sky Above Zenica

A brief content description taken from the catalogue of the Sarajevo FF, where it was shown at the 16th Human Rights Day, a beautiful initiative this is: A quarter of the Bosnian city of Zenica is a giant steel plant. It is the largest employer in the area, and spews smoke day and night. Zenica has been deemed one of the world´s most polluted cities with multiple occurrences of cancers, childhood diabetes and respiratory diseases. Now the citizens have had enough. They form the organisation Eko Forum and demand change…

It took the filmmakers seven years to make the film being as stubborn and committed as the protagonist, activist Samir Lemes and his fellow citizens fighting for a city, where you can breathe…

Don´t talk about it, let the images speak! They do very much so with this film. Again and again the sky above Zenica is brought to full screen through the cinematography of Nanna Frank Møller. Sometimes with a zoom in and out. They stay for a while for us to think and understand where we are and what is at stake. It is simply Cinema and that is for me the amazing narrative quality of the work the two filmmakers have done, far away from journalistic reportage, having found the right rythm, being respectful towards subject and protagonists. At the same time as the step by step fight with authorities is brought clearly to the screen. It brings us from the sky to the people, stay with them when they meet and talk – and gives us the necessary information, when there are meetings with a mayor or a minister or banker. (Oh, the absurd scene with the man, who talks about a future green city, where the citizens can walk and bike freely!)

You can see, how the filmmakers have succeeded to get the trust of the activists. You sense it in the well built scene in the carpenter’s garage (?), where one after the other enter to sit down and talk about the activist strategy with charismatic Samir Lemes as the one, who leads the discussion but also listen to those, who – he does the same – argue that they do not want the plant to be shot down meaning hundreds of people will lose their jobs. It’s about creating scenes, where you as a viewer feel that you are there together with those on the screen.

Let the white and dark smoke disappear from the sky over Senica, and the red river have clear water so the people in Zenica can have a decent life…

Bosnia, Denmark, 90 mins. 2024.

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Tue Steen Müller
Tue Steen Müller

Müller, Tue Steen
Documentary Consultant and Critic, DENMARK

Worked with documentary films for more than 20 years at the Danish Film Board, as press officer, festival representative and film consultant/commissioner. Co-founder of Balticum Film and TV Festival, Filmkontakt Nord, Documentary of the EU and EDN (European Documentary Network).
Awards: 2004 the Danish Roos Prize for his contribution to the Danish and European documentary culture. 2006 an award for promoting Portuguese documentaries. 2014 he received the EDN Award “for an outstanding contribution to the development of the European documentary culture”. 2016 The Cross of the Knight of the Order for Merits to Lithuania. 2019 a Big Stamp at the 15th edition of ZagrebDox. 2021 receipt of the highest state decoration, Order of the Three Stars, Fourth Class, for the significant contribution to the development and promotion of Latvian documentary cinema outside Latvia. In 2022 he received an honorary award at DocsBarcelona’s 25th edition having served as organizer and programmer since the start of the festival.
From 1996 until 2005 he was the first director of EDN (European Documentary Network). From 2006 a freelance consultant and teacher in workshops like Ex Oriente, DocsBarcelona, Archidoc, Documentary Campus, Storydoc, Baltic Sea Forum, Black Sea DocStories, Caucadoc, CinéDOC Tbilisi, Docudays Kiev, Dealing With the Past Sarajevo FF as well as programme consultant for the festivals Magnificent7 in Belgrade, DOCSBarcelona, Verzio Budapest, Message2Man in St. Petersburg and DOKLeipzig. Teaches at the Zelig Documentary School in Bolzano Italy.

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