Published: 26 Nov 2015
The Fog of Srebrenica, directed and produced by Edinburgh based director and producer, Samir Mehanović with music by Scottish composer Nigel Osborne MBE , has won the IDFA Special Jury Award for Mid-Length Documentary at Amsterdam’s International Documentary Film Festival (IDFA).
The film portrays the long-term impact for survivors of the Srebrenica genocide, which claimed the lives of more than 8,000 Muslim Bosniaks, mainly men and boys, in a single week during the Bosnian war. The film screened in competition at the festival, ahead of winning the award at last night’s ceremony.
Samir’s motivation for making the film came after visiting the Srebrenica memorial in Potocari in 2014. Located within a mass graveyard, it is the site where in 1995 the Dutch UN battalion handed over local civilians to Serbian forces. Samir commented: “I was struck and deeply moved when I saw family names repeated endlessly on the marble memorial, a lonely testament in this vast place, with too many headstones and too many young deaths recorded.”
Produced and edited in Scotland, the film was originally broadcast on BBC World as well as BBC2 Newsnight on 11th July 2015, marking the 20th anniversary of the massacre, before going on to receive its World Premiere at Sarajevo Film Festival in August.
On receiving last night’s award, Samir said: “I hope that The Fog of Srebrenica will raise awareness that the international community failed to protect victims of the Srebrenica genocide in 1995, and bring some justice to the survivors today. I dedicate the award to the Bosnian people, the victims and survivors of the Srebrenica genocide. I would like to thank my small crew, Creative Scotland for their continued support and IDFA for honouring the victims of Srebrenica.”
Ross McKenzie, Screen Officer, Creative Scotland, said: “Congratulations to Samir on the making of this powerful and evocative film. The film marks a pivotal moment in Samir’s filmmaking career, and Creative Scotland is proud to have been able to support this internationally significant project which reflects the quality of documentaries being produced in Scotland.”
THE FOG OF SREBRENICA - TRAILER from Samir Mehanovic on Vimeo.
For further information about the film please visit:
www.thefogofsrebrenicafilm.com
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/129314925
About Samir Mehanović
Bosnian born and Scotland based, Samir Mehanovićis a film and theatre director, producer, and screenwriter. He has previously received the BAFTA Scotland award for Best First Time Director for the short film The Way We Played, which has screened at over 30 festivals.
About Nigel Osborne
Nigel Osborne is a Scottish composer whose works have been featured in international festivals and been performed by many leading orchestras and ensembles around the world. Osborne formerly served as Reid Professor of Music at the University of Edinburgh.
About IDFA
Every year, IDFA welcomes some 2,500 international documentary professionals in Amsterdam during eleven days of films, industry events, panel discussions and much more. For further information about the festival please visit: www.idfa.nl
About Creative Scotland
Creative Scotland supported The Fog of Srebrenica with £11,000.
Creative Scotland is the public body that supports the arts, screen and creative industries across all parts of Scotland on behalf of everyone who lives, works or visits here. We enable people and organisations to work in and experience the arts, screen and creative industries in Scotland by helping others to develop great ideas and bring them to life. We distribute funding provided by the Scottish Government and the National Lottery. For further information about Creative Scotland please visit www.creativescotland.com. Follow us @creativescots and www.facebook.com/CreativeScotland.
Media Contact:
Sophie Bambrough
Media Relations & PR Officer
Creative Scotland
E: sophie.bambrough@creativescotland.com
T: 0131 523 0015
M: 0774 760 6146
S: 0330 333 2000
