It was February 1993 in Sarajevo and the bombs had been falling for 10 months. The city, the capital of the newly-independent nation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, was surrounded and under siege by Bosnian Serbs forces. The assault continued for another three years, making it the longest siege of a capital city in modern warfare. Despite the dangers and warnings from her parents, 16-year-old Elma Tataragić ventured out to the Apollo War Cinema, located in the basement of the Sarajevo Academy of Performing Arts. The cinema, operating during the siege, screened films using donated VHS tapes and admission cost one cigarette. The screenings provided a temporary escape from the war-ravaged reality, and the international film community eventually stepped in to support the underground cinema. In December 1995, the cinema transformed into the Sarajevo Film Festival, and Tataragić, who had initially attended as a film-goer, became the head of the festival’s competition selection. The festival, now in its 30th year, plans to commemorate its origins in 2023 by screening a special program of movies that were shown at the Cinema Apollo.
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