14TH SARAJEVO FILM FESTIVAL OPENS THIS WEEK

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (August 11,2008) - The Sarajevo Film Festival (SFF), which starts on Friday,August 15th, began in 1995 as an artistic act of defiance against the 1992-1995 Serbian,Montenegrin and Croatian aggressions against Bosnia.During the war,about 15,000 people came to see the Bosnian premier of Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Pulp Fiction’. It was said they dodged snipers to get there, and that explosions outside reinforced the violence on-screen.

Today, the Sarajevo Film Festival is a symbol of Bosnia’s recovery, as the largest in the region and one of the top ten in Europe.Last August, 175 films, including features, shorts and documentaries, were screened for 100,000 visitors. The SFF aims to encourage the region’s film industry, and between festivals runs a development programme for aspiring local auteurs.

Inevitably, the region’s wars and their aftermath provide them with subject-matter. The 2001 winner was Bosnian film director Danis Tanovic’s anti-war ‘No Man’s Land’, the blackest of tragicomedies (it is set in a minefield) that went on to win an Oscar for Best Foreign Film.This year, Tanovic returned to Bosnia, hoping to found a new political party with the aim of breaking the dysfunctional post-war mould of Bosnian politics.

This year’s nine-day festival opens with Aida Begic’s ‘Snow’.Two businessmen try to bribe a group of women, whose men died in the war, to abandon their isolated village and its memories. It came equal-first in the Critics’ Week parallel competition for new directors at Cannes in May.

With its accent on most recent regional feature films, short and documentary films, tributes to important regional filmmakers and the CineLink Co-production Market – SFF represents the main meeting place for all regional producers and authors and is recognized by film professionals from all over the world as the pinnacle point for networking for all wishing to learn more about the possibilities this region of Europe has to offer.

Aside from focus on regional production the Sarajevo Film Festival is offering a great selection of world cinematography in 13 different programmes (including: Competition Programme - Feature Films, Competition Short Films, Competition Programme - Regional Documentaries, Regional Off, New Currents, New Currents Shorts, Panorama, Panorama Documentaries, Tribute To, Heineken Open Air Cinema, Special Programme, Children's Programme, Teenarena, Katrin Cartlidge)

From August 15 to 23 the 14th Sarajevo Film Festival will be held in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo and here are the feature films in the competition program:

Buick Riviera, Goran Rušinović, Croatia and Bosnia, 2008
Delta, Kornél Mundruczó, Hungary and Germany, 2008
Gitmek (My Marlon and Brando), Hüseyin Karabey, Turkey, 2008
Kino Lika, Dalibor Matanić, Croatia and Bosnia, 2008
Lányok (Girls), Anna Faur, Hungary, 2007
Četvrti Čovek (The Fourth Man), Dejan Zečević, Serbia, 2007
März (March), Händl Klaus, Austria, 2008
Nikoli Nisva Šla V Benetke (We’ve Never Been to Venice), Blaž Kutin, Slovenia, 2008
Nokta (Dot), Derviş Zaim, Turkey, 2008
SonBahar (Autumn), Özcan Alper, Turkey, 2008

Sarajevo Film Festival Jury President: Nuri Bilge Ceylan, director/writer, Turkey

Jury Members: Hugh Hudson, director, UK; Marija Škaričić, actress, Croatia; Michael Weber, founder and Director of Match Factory, Germany; and Deborah Young, artistic director of the Taormina filmfest, USA/Italy.

The 14th edition of the Sarajevo Film Festival will host one of the greatest actors of our time, the two-time Oscar winner – Kevin Spacey. The Festival will mark his first visit with a gala screening, in the Heineken Open Air Programme, of The Usual Suspects, the film for which he received his first Academy Award.
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IRANIAN MAJLIS RATIFIES BOSNIA-IRAN SECURITY PACT

TEHRAN, Iran (August 11,2008) - The Iranian Majlis has ratified Bosnia-Iran security pact.The security agreement had already been signed between the Bosnian government and the government of Islamic Republic of Iran.

Bosnia-Iran agreement on security has 11 Articles which envisaged cooperation on security and bolstering the friendly ties.According to the agreement, Iran and Bosnia will develop cooperation in fourteen areas.

The Majlis lawmakers approved the bill with 160 votes in favor and 10 against.

According to the agreement Bosnia and Iran committed themselves to combat transnational organized crime and other criminal activities, fight against narcotics and psycho active drugs, prevent illegal economic activities, and crack down on criminals who threaten people’s lives and properties.

The methods of cooperation and other issues are also included in this agreement.
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SERBIAN WAR CRIMINAL RADOVAN KARADZIC WAS PROTECTED BY BRITAIN

LONDON, UK (August 11,2008) - Former leader and creator of the genocidal Serbian creature in Bosnia "RS",Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic,who has been indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for genocide and war crimes committed during the 1992-1995 Serbian aggression against Bosnia, was able to avoid capture for 13 years because he received protection from London, a former Hague Tribunal official has claimed,the British Daily Telegraph reported yesterday.

James Luko, a former United Nations political affairs officer in Bosnia and a Hague Tribunal investigator, told a Belgrade newspaper that Gen Angus Ramsay, the former commander of British peace­keepers in Bosnia, was ordered by superiors in London to leave Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic alone just minutes before British troops prepared to capture him in August 1997.

Mr Luko, who spent several years in Belgrade before resigning in 2005, claimed he was one of three people present when Gen Ramsay entered a room at British Army headquarters in the northern Bosnian city of Banja Luka moments after speaking to London. Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic’s convoy, monitored from an Awacs plane, was visible on a large screen in the room.

“We are not police, we are soldiers, and therefore this is not our responsibility ”, Gen Ramsay allegedly said.

A spokesman for the British Ministry of Defence said: “We have no knowledge of this alleged incident and we would not comment on intelligence matters. The UK has been fully committed from the outset to bringing to justice indicted war criminals from the former Yugoslavia.”

A report in the same newspaper last week claimed that Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic was living under US protection until the CIA caught him breaking an agreement to stay out of politics.

In his first appearance before The Hague Tribunal, Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic claimed that Richard Holbrooke, the former US Assistant Secretary of State, had guaranteed him immunity if he withdrew from public life.

A former Hague Tribunal insider has added her comments to claims that Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadžić enjoyed support from Britain,the United States,Russia and France. Former Hague spokeswoman Florence Hartmann told the Belgrade daily Blic that the UN war crimes court's prosecution on several occasions gave the U.S. exact locations where Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic was hiding. But, Hartmann says, "they did nothing".

"Information about the fugitives' whereabouts was abundant, however, it would always turn out that one of the three countries – the U.S., Britain or France – would block arrests," she said.
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BOSNIAN STATE COURT ORDERS CUSTODY FOR SERBIAN WAR CRIMINAL RADOMIR VUKOVIC CHARGED WITH GENOCIDE

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (August 11,2008) - The Bosnian State Court issued a Decision ordering into one-month custody for Serbian war criminal Radomir Vuković, who is suspected of the criminal offence of Genocide,committed during the 1992-1995 Serbian aggression against Bosnia. Pursuant to the Decision, the custody may last until September 7th, 2008,the Bosnian State Court said.

Having considered the submitted evidence, the Bosnian State Court concluded that there was grounded suspicion that Serbian war criminal Radomir Vuković had committed the foregoing criminal offence.

Further, the Bosnian State Court ordered custody having found that there was sufficient evidence indicating the risk of his flight, and that Serbian war criminal, if released, might interfere with the criminal proceedings by influencing the witnesses.

Also, the Bosnian State Court ordered Serbian war criminal Radomir Vuković into custody given that the crime in question carries a 10-year imprisonment penalty or a harsher sentence, so due to the manner of perpetration or the consequences of the crime, bearing in mind that releasing would result in a genuine threat to public order.
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SANDZAK CLIMBER REACHES NEW HIGHTS

NOVI PAZAR, Sandžak (August 11,2008) - Basar Carovac, a member of the Mountaineering Society of Novi Pazar in Sandžak, set off last week to climb Carstensz Pyramid, at 4.884 metres the highest mountain in Australia and Oceania.

The climber from Novi Pazar will travel via Belgrade, Zurich, Singapore and Jakarta to New Guinea, where he will seek to complete a series of seven ascents to the world's seven highest continental summits, every mountaineer's dream.

"I am ready to become the first man from the territory of former Yugoslavia to complete the seven highest continental summits," Carovac told reporters before his departure. The expedition includes another two climbers, from the US and South Korea.

Sandzak is a region of Bosnia,currently under Serbian and Montenegrin fascist occupation.It stretches from Bosnia to Kosovo on an area of 8,403 square kilometers. Six municipalities of Sandžak are currently in the genocidal Serbia (Novi Pazar, Sjenica, Tutin, Prijepolje, Nova Varoš, and Priboj), and five in Montenegro (Pljevlja, Bijelo Polje, Berane, Rožaje, and Plav).The municipality of Andrijevica is also regarded to be part of Sandžak.

The largest city in the region is Novi Pazar (55,000), while other large cities are: Pljevlja (23,800), and Priboj (19,600).According to the official censuses from 2002 and 2003, the total population of Sandžak is 420,259 people.220,065 Bosnians live in Sandzak.They make up 52.36% of the total population of Sandžak.

Carovac added that the Carstensz Pyramid does not resemble the peaks he has climbed in the past, but he said his experience climbing Vinson Massif, the highest peak in Antractica, would come in handy."
If everything goes according to plan, the expedition will reach the peak of Carstensz Pyramid in the last week of August.

Carovac has climbed Kilimanjaro, Aconcagua, Everest, Elbrus, Vinson and McKinley, in that order. Beside the six highest continental summits, he has also climbed the demanding peaks of Damavand, Ararat, Lobuche, Island Peak, Cho Oju and Erdjias.

So far, the seven highest continental summits have been completed by 136 climbers from around the world.

Romanian Constantin Lacatusu and Greek Nikolaos Magitsis are the only climbers from the southeastern Europe who have achieved this.
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