April 27, 2000

Janko Baljak, director

They Played Russian Roulette

Why has the author of the award-winning documentary at the recent Belgrade Festival of Documentary and Short Films come across a wall of silence at Radio Television Serbia (RTS)? RTS building was hit by a NATO missile on April 23 last year. Sixteen RTS employees were killed in this incident. Ever since there has been no answer to the question raised by their family members about the reasons for their not having been previously warned of the imminent danger and evacuated. Janko Baljak's documentary "02:06 - Anatomy of Pain", an ANEM / FreeB92 production, won Grand Prix at the Festival of Documentary and Short Films this year.

FS: It's interesting that this documentary about the destruction of Radio Television Serbia building and the death of innocent people in it was produced by an independent production company instead of the state-run television itself. What would be your comment on this?

Janko Baljak: Anyone could see in this film that those responsible who could decide whether some people were to live or die chose to hide behind the wall of silence. While we were filming this documentary, and it lasted several months, we were trying to get in touch with the most responsible people at Radio Television Serbia (RTS), but our efforts were in vain. The family members of the murdered RTS employees came across a wall of silence as well. It would be illusory to expect that those people who chose to be silent about it would set out to make a documentary about what had really happened that night. Personally, I certainly didn't expect that RTS would make this film. So I did it myself.

On the 23^rd of each month the families of the killed RTS workers and their friends hold commemorative service in front the RTS building in Aberdareva Street. They are an unofficial group of people in black who organised themselves hoping that their actions would draw public attention. I was impressed by their persistence and courage and I have to thank those people for being so strong despite horrible loss and pain they suffered to set out on a quixotic quest for truth and justice. This documentary represents an earnest attempt to induce the wider public to ask the same question: "Why!? Why have our dearest been sacrificed?" Our wish was that "Anatomy of Pain" be seen by as large audience as possible.

Due to circumstances and almost subconsciously I also engaged in the struggle of those people which at times was reminiscent of scenes from Latin American countries. Do you remember those women in mourning, dressed in black, roaming the cities and towns in search of their missing husbands and sons? We've also seen several feature films on this subject. It seems that I've stepped out of the limits of a documentary by siding with the family members of the murdered RTS employees.

FS: It's quite clear that these bereaved families today point the finger at those people whom they consider responsible for the death of their dearest. What were the reactions of those who were lucky enough to survive the bombing?

Janko Baljak: I was in fact confounded by indifference of the people taking part in everyday Russian roulette of the regime. The game was actually more hazardous since they were playing with NATO missiles instead of a single bullet. It was only a matter of days or nights before this tragedy took place. And it happened when there were between 100 and 150 people in the building. Any one of them could have been killed that night. Above all, I was stunned by insensitivity of the survivors. There are only a handful of them willing to speak openly and bravely about that Russian roulette. The regime has managed to force the people to withdraw into their shells and keep silent even when this might cost them their lives.

To be honest, we didn't expect that "Anatomy of Pain" would enter the official festival program. Nevertheless, we submitted our documentary to test the public opinion and see what the reaction would be. It's interesting that three out of five members of the festival jury were the employees of Radio Television Serbia. And they still are. Despite pressure from the outside, the jury unanimously awarded our documentary. This was an encouragement and it instilled hope in me that everything is not lost yet.

FS: After filming documentaries "See You in Obituary" and "Ethnically Pure" you took up another painful subject. To what an extent have you actually engaged in politics?

Janko Baljak: I've engaged in politics only to the extent it actually affects my personal life. My choice was to stay in Serbia of the '90s and do my work. I'm a film director, I graduated in 1990. When I resolved to stay here and film documentaries I simply couldn't take up trivial jobs. I could've directed tourist films about the natural beauties of Serbia. I live for the day when I'll be able to film such documentaries. Today, unfortunately, this is not possible.

Edvard Jukic

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