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Romeo and Juliet in Sarajevo

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Romeo and Juliet in Sarajevo
Directed byJohn Zaritsky
Written byJohn Zaritsky
Produced byRainer Hoffmann
Steve Milosevic
Mark Starowicz
Virginia Storring
CBC
NFB
WDR
StarringDamir Andrei
Nancy Beatty
Amos Crawley
Narrated byWill Lyman
CinematographyMichael Savoie
Edited byEric Goddard
Richard Wells
Music byMason Daring
Production
company
Distributed byPBS Distribution
Release date
  • May 10, 1994 (1994-05-10)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish

Romeo and Juliet in Sarajevo is an international documentary about the deaths of Admira Ismić (born May 13,[1] 1968) and Boško Brkić (Cyrillic: Бошко Бркић; born August 11,[2] 1968). The couple were natives of Bosnia and Herzegovina living in the city of Sarajevo. She was a Bosniak, and he a Bosnian Serb.[3] They were killed by sniper fire on 19 May 1993, while trying to cross the Vrbanja bridge to the Serb-controlled territory of Grbavica. Mark H. Milstein's photograph of their dead bodies was used by numerous media outlets, and a Reuters dispatch about them was filed by Kurt Schork. The documentary was co-produced by PBS's Frontline, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the National Film Board of Canada and WDR Germany. It was directed by John Zaritsky.

The grave of Admira Ismić and Boško Brkić at the Lav cemetery in Sarajevo.

Synopsis

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The 1992–96 Siege of Sarajevo by the Bosnian Serb Army (VRS) caused drastic deterioration in living conditions for its inhabitants. In 1993, Bosniak Admira Ismić and Bosnian Serb Boško Brkić, a couple with connections across different ethnic groups, decided to escape the conflict. On 19 May 1993, the pair attempted to cross Vrbanja Bridge, part of Sniper Alley, hoping for a safe passage due to an alleged informal agreement that no one would fire during their crossing.

Accounts differ regarding the exact sequence of events. According to some sources, the couple approached the bridge at 17:00, when Boško was shot first, dying instantly. Admira, although wounded, managed to crawl to him, embrace him, and died moments later.

The two bodies remained in no man’s land for several days, with Serb and Bosnian forces arguing over responsibility for their deaths and recovery. After eight days, Serb forces retrieved the bodies using Bosnian POWs, and the couple was later buried together in Lion Cemetery.

Kuniomi Asai, a war correspondent who accompanied soldiers at the front lines, recalls events differently. He reported that Sarajevo's Bosnian government initially restricted access to the front for foreign journalists. However, through his connections, Asai joined a platoon heading to the front and encountered photographer Mark Milstein, a stringer for Reuters, who pleaded to accompany them, desperate to capture compelling images.

Upon reaching a building overlooking the bridge, Asai claims they saw the bodies of the young couple, appearing as if the man had been shot first, and the woman had collapsed while trying to help him. Local soldiers identified the snipers as Serbian forces and described the couple as high school sweethearts attempting to escape the war.

Milstein’s photographs of the tragic scene were widely circulated by international media and used in Kurt Schork’s article, which turned the couple into a symbol of the senseless violence during the siege.

Reflecting on the media’s influence, Asai expressed frustration with the Japanese news agency’s delayed interest in the footage he had captured, noting that they only pursued the story after it gained traction in Western media outlets.

To this day, the identities of the snipers remain unconfirmed, as no formal investigation was conducted. The deaths of Boško and Admira continue to symbolize the devastating human impact of the Bosnian War, remembered both as an emblem of love transcending conflict and as a tragic outcome of war.

Cast

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Awards

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For this film, director Zaritsky received the Alfred Dupont Award from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism as well as an Emmy Award nomination.[4]

See also

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  • Bill Madden – Bosko and Admira, from the 2008 album Child of the Same God
  • Kurt Schork - The original dispatch by Kurt Schork, whose ashes are interred next to Bosko and Admira, telling the moving story of Romeo and Juliet in Sarajevo.
  • Inela Nogić – Miss Sarajevo 1993
  • Jill Sobule – "Vrbana Bridge"
  • Vedran Smailović – known as the "Cellist of Sarajevo"
  • "薩拉熱窩的羅密歐與茱麗葉", exact translation in Cantonese of "Romeo and Juliet in Sarajevo", from Hong Kong singer Sammi Cheng's 1994 album Ten Commandments

References

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  1. ^ "Nezaboravljeni: 20 godina od pogibije sarajevskih Romea i Julije (VIDEO)". 14 May 2021.
  2. ^ Romeo and Juliet in Sarajevo (Television Broadcast). 1994. Event occurs at 1:17:31.
  3. ^ TRANSCRIPTS:Romeo and Juliet in Sarajevo
  4. ^ "NFB - Portraits". Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2007-07-06.
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