FIRST WAR CINEMA APOLLO
The exhibition of photographs by Milomir Kovacevic Strasni was created on the occasion of marking the thirtieth anniversary of the First War Cinema APOLLO, launched in February 1993 in the Open Stage Obala at the Academy of Performing Arts in Sarajevo. Milomir Kovacevic, a kind of chronicler of life in Sarajevo during the war, used his photographs to record and preserve from oblivion not only the First War Cinema Apollo, but also numerous exhibitions, which were created during the war in the production of the Obala Art Center, as well as moments from war concerts and socializing at Obala.
Open Stage Obala, an art organization founded in 1984, completed the reconstruction of the cinema hall in the Red Cross building in Sarajevo just before the outbreak of the war in BiH in 1992-95, for its activities in the fields of theater, music, film and visual arts. During the war, the organization changed its name to Obala Art Center and, among other things, founded the Sarajevo Film Festival in 1995.
On the night between 9 and 10 May 1992, before a single project could be realized, the newly renovated hall was hit by aggressor shells and set on fire. The enormous effort and material resources that were invested in the reconstruction were turned to ash in just one night. Despite this event, members of Obala, led by director Mirsad Purivatra, continued to operate in Sarajevo, using the destroyed hall as the first war gallery in Sarajevo. In order to at least partly preserve the memory of the hall where they failed to realize a single project, they invited the most prominent contemporary artists from Sarajevo to pay tribute to this and all other destroyed cultural facilities in Sarajevo. The group exhibition of eight Bosnian-Herzegovinian artists entitled “Witnesses of Existence” was produced by the Obala Art Center as a result of eight individual exhibitions realized in the demolished space of the cinema “Sutjeska” in the Red Cross building in the period from December 1992 to March 1993.
In February 1993, in the old OBALA premise, the First War Cinema Apollo was created at the Academy of Performing Arts in Sarajevo. The electricity for the film projections was provided with the help of generators, films were shown on VHS-video equipment, and the symbolic price of the ticket for the screenings was one cigarette. The documentary about the First War Cinema Apollo during the war was filmed and directed by Srdjan Vuletic, and produced by Saga. Twenty years later, a film was made about the First War Cinema Apollo, directed by Sejla Kameric and Mark Cousins and produced by Blow Up.
In the gallery of the Academy of Fine Arts, built by members of Obala in 1994, along with photographs from the screenings of the First War Cinema Apollo, photographs from the period 1992-1994 of the following exhibitions of the Obala Gallery are displayed: “War Traces 93” by Edin Numankadic in the ruined Sutjeska Cinema, Milomir Kovacevic Strasni’s “Ace lezi” at the Open Stage Obala, “New York-Sarajevo” in Preporod, “Witnesses of Existence”, “Sarajevo Portraits” by Annie Leibovitz, “UNPROFOR Working for Peace”, “World Press Photo” and “Aftermath” by Sophie Ristelbueber at the Art Gallery of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as “Shadows” by Christian Boltanski at the Academy of Performing Arts Sarajevo. Lejla Hodzic, curator of the exhibition.

FILM PROGRAMME

30 YEARS SINCE THE FIRST WAR CINEMA APOLLO
This year, the Sarajevo Film Festival marks an important anniversary in relation to the very beginning of the Festival and organizes a programme called 30 YEARS SINCE THE FIRST WAR CINEMA APOLLO, which will feature seven film classics: Falling Down by Joel Schumacher, Wild at the Heart by David Lynch, Easy Rider by Dennis Hopper, We’re No Angels by Neil Jordan, Night on Earth by Jim Jarmusch, Basic Instinct by Paul Verhoeven and Thelma & Louise by Ridley Scott.
The screenings will be held at the place where it all began: at the Open Stage Obala, in the basement of the Academy of Performing Arts Sarajevo.
The festival has its roots in numerous film programmes organized by the Obala Art Center, the organizer of the Sarajevo Film Festival, during the siege of Sarajevo from 1992 to 1995, known as the First War Cinema Apollo. Despite the challenging circumstances, this cinema provided desperately needed refreshment to residents who had endured a three-and-a-half-year siege. The cinema, located in the basement of the Academy of Performing Arts, was always crowded with people, regardless of the risks they would take to reach it in the midst of sniping and shelling. Instead of money, which was a rarity during the siege, the symbolic price of a movie ticket was one cigarette. Given the lack of electricity in the city, the cinema worked on the generator, and the films were shown through VHS tapes that friends brought to the city, because they represented a rare connection with what was happening in the outside world, especially in terms of culture and art. Thanks to the broad support of the international film community, various film programmes and retrospectives of major festivals such as Edinburgh and Locarno were held continuously from February 1993 to December 1995, which in 1995 led to the establishment of the Sarajevo Film Festival as we know it today.
“This year marks the 30th anniversary of the First War Cinema Apollo, and to celebrate that history and the Festival itself, we are organizing a retrospective of some of the favourite films that were shown during the siege. The retrospective will take place in the very same basement where it all began 30 years ago, offering a unique perspective on the past from today’s perspective.” Jovan Marjanovic, director of the Sarajevo Film Festival.

PROGRAMME:

FALLING DOWN
USA, France, United Kingdom, 1993, 113 min.
Directed by Joel Schumacher
Cast: Michael Douglas, Robert Duvall, Barbara Hershey, Rachel Ticotin, Tuesday Weld, Frederic Forrest, Lois Smith
Middle-aged William Foster, facing job loss and divorce at the same time, is having a bad day. When his car breaks down in the middle of a Los Angeles road, he leaves it and heads to his daughter’s birthday party on foot. As he makes his way through the city, William’s frustrations and resentment surface, resulting in a series of violent interactions with various people, including members of a vengeful gang and a responsible retired police officer.

WILD AT HEART
USA, 1990, 120 min.
Directed by David Lynch
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Laura Dern, Willem Dafoe, Crispin Glover, Diane Ladd, Isabella Rossellini, Harry Dean Stanton
After serving a prison sentence for murder in self-defence, Sailor Ripley returns to her girlfriend, Lula Fortune. In a desperate attempt to separate them, Lula’s mother, Marietta, hires a hitman to kill Sailor. But Sailor runs into a bunch of other problems when he tries to rob a store with his old acquaintance, Bobby Peru, who is also trying to kill him. After Sailor goes back to prison, it seems that the young lovers have never been further from the life together they long for.

EASY RIDER
United States, 1969, 95 min.
Directed by Dennis Hopper
Cast: Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Jack Nicholson, Antonio Mendoza, Phil Spector, Mac Mashourian, Warren Finnerty, Tita Colorado
After completing a drug deal in Southern California, hippie bikers Wyatt and Billy decide to travel across America on Harley-Davidsons in search of spiritual truth. While traveling, they face the prejudice and hatred of narrow-minded US provincials, but they also meet other travellers who are looking for alternative ways of life. After a terrifying drug experience in New Orleans, they begin to wonder if they will ever be able to find a peaceful life in America.

WE’RE NO ANGELS
USA, 1989, 106 min.
Directed by Neil Jordan
Cast: Robert De Niro, Sean Penn, Hoyt Axton, Bruno Kirby, Ray McAnally, James Russo, Demi Moore
Ned and Jim, convicts during the Great Depression, find themselves on the loose after a sudden prison break and in the company of a murderer. The two fugitives head north with the intention of crossing the Canadian border, but before they can do so, they are mistaken for priests, and they decide to maintain this illusion. After moving into a local monastery, they try not to expose themselves, even when Ned falls in love with a beautiful local girl, Molly.

NIGHT ON EARTH
France, United Kingdom, Germany, USA, Japan, 1991, 129 min.
Directed by Jim Jarmusch
Cast: Winona Ryder, Gena Rowlands, Giancarlo Esposito, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Rosie Perez, Isaach de Bankolé, Béatrice Dalle, Roberto Benigni, Paolo Bonacelli, Matti Pellonpää, Kari Väänänen, Sakari Kuosmanen, Tomi Salmela
The film is composed of five stories that take place in a taxi while driving through different cities around the world. The plot in all the vignettes covered in the film happens at the same time, and the story moves from Los Angeles in the United States to Helsinki in Finland. In Los Angeles, taxi driver Corky picks up an interesting client, a Hollywood casting agent. In New York, an immigrant taxi driver is constantly lost in an incomprehensible city and culture, while a taxi driver in Paris has to deal with rude African diplomats. In Rome, an eccentric taxi driver, Gino, has a lively conversation with a sickly priest, while a taxi driver in Helsinki tells his customers the saddest story they’ve ever heard.

BASIC INSTINCT
USA, France, 1992, 123 min.
Directed by Paul Verhoeven
Cast: Michael Douglas, Sharon Stone, George Dzundza, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Wayne Knight, Denis Arndt, Leilani Sarelle, Bruce A. Young
The mysterious Catherine Tramell, an attractive crime novelist, is suspected of the brutal murder of a once-famous rock musician. Catherine seduces Nick Curran, a homicide detective investigating the case, and draws him into an intense relationship. The case, meanwhile, is complicated by a series of seemingly connected deaths, with Nick’s psychologist and lover Beth Garner making it onto the suspect list herself.

THELMA & LOUISE
USA, United Kingdom, France, 1991, 130 min.
Directed by Ridley Scott
Cast: Susan Sarandon, Geena Davis, Harvey Keitel, Michael Madsen, Christopher McDonald, Stephen Tobolowsky, Brad Pitt, Timothy Carhart
Meek housewife Thelma goes fishing with her friend, independent waitress Louise. However, a short trip turns into an escape from the police after Louise shoots a man who tries to rape Thelma and kills him in a bar. Louise decides to flee to Mexico, and Thelma joins her. During the journey, Thelma falls in love with the sexy young thief J.D., and the well-meaning detective Slocumb tries to get the two women to surrender before their fate is sealed.