The Italian-based but Sarajevo-born Srdan Perkic can’t hide his pride that, at this relatively advanced stage of his life, he has finally made a movie. In his 50s, Srdan Perkic has belatedly completed his debut feature film, the documentary Lights Of Sarajevo, which is a world premiere in the Sarajevo Festival Documentary Competition this week.
The documentary has a double focus. It looks both at the 50th anniversary of one of Sarajevo’s most celebrated venues, the Skenderija Hall. It also celebrates the city’s best loved rock band, Zabranjeno pušenje, co-founded by Sejo Sexon more than 40 years ago. Sexon is also heavily involved in the documentary as narrator and protagonist.
“This hall is what we like to call our temple of the culture,” Perkic says of the venue (which holds sports as well as musical events). “But that probably wasn’t enough to make something interesting, so I put in the film Sejo Sexon and made some kind of narrative.”
The director describes Zabranjeno pušenje as “the most authentic band that we have” and Sexon as “the most important urban poet.” He suggests that everybody who grew up in Sarajevo has some of the band’s songs “in their genes…they are part of the culture of the city.” Their songs “are deep inside us.”
“In a small and poor country [like Bosnia], only with culture and sport can you go forward,” he declares.
The film celebrates the “common and simple people” who have flocked to the hall over the years to watch Sexon and others perform. This is a long way removed from the typical documentary about a rock star and his home city. For a start, it has neither interviews nor archive material. “I didn’t have anything against this approach but I tried to make something a little bit different.” Perkic was keen to make the documentary accessible to young audiences.
This wasn’t an easy project to bring to fruition. “First of all, we started the film without any finance,” the director remembers. This may have been “crazy and irrational” but once he had the permission of the band to film, he was determined to move ahead. As he always advises “young guys,” once you have a “good idea, don’t wait too long to close the production mosaic. Go and make something! Especially, in our small country, I’ve seen a lot of people wait…and they never finish the project – and never start the project.”
You might not have money but if you have “a lot of courage,” you can probably get the project done anyway, he adds.
Perkic notes that normally, when you collaborate with a famous rock band, the musicians will try to put pressure on the filmmaker to portray them in the light in which they want to be seen. “It was the absolute contrary. They gave me full freedom as to the interpretation.”
It helped that Perkic was “never too shy” to ask for what he wanted. He was keen to show the band not just on stage but behind the scenes. He expresses his gratitude toward Sexon for the access he was given.
Filming was interrupted by the pandemic. “But we started again. Finally, after three and a half years, we finished the film….I am 50 years old, too old for my first film!”
Now, Perkic is preparing for the Sarajevo premiere. He was gratified to discover that, several days in advance of the festival, “everything was sold out.” In fact, there is a long waiting list for tickets.
The director is hoping that the band might “make some kind of unplugged concert” in support of the premiere. What’s more, broadcasters are now circling the project, the director adds.
Perkic has his own thriving marketing agency NAVA (Not A Video Agency) in Udine in Italy. His clients include “various industrial companies.” One department of the company is dedicated to making a commercial videos. Perkic himself deals with communication strategies and market analysis – work that is a long way removed from making a documentary like Lights Of Sarajevo.
What of the future? Delighted at having completed one doc, Perkic hasn’t discounted the possibility of making another. “I never thought I would make one film…” He doesn’t want to ”rob” opportunities from younger directors. “But who knows. Never say never!”
