Filming in Bosnia and Hercegovina: The Interpreter Is the Key

The fourth documentary film of the Communications Department at Palacký University is being edited now by Jiří Vrba. From of fourteen hours of raw material, Vrba will edit a 30 minute documentary for the Czech Television on the theme of Czech aid in Bosnia and Hercegovina.

Vrba has been filming the projects of development aid financed by the Czech government for five years now, in tandem with Eva Vernerová. A project manager and production manager in one, she joined the team while still a student. The documentary concept, however, comes from the head of the Department of Development Studies, Pavel Nováček.

"My original plan was to be in charge of the camera, but being the director too, I cannot do both. That's why the cameramen, Ilja Zlámal or Michal Škoda, accompany us," explains Vrba. The fourth member of the crew is always the interpreter and guide in one person, someone local and fluent in Czech. This strategy has proved itself in Serbia, Moldova, and Mongolia. Vernerová highlights the key role of the interpreters during filming. "They basically give us directions, because one thing is to read about the country in advance and another thing is to step into its reality," said Vernerová.

We live in clover without knowing it

The interpreter in Bosnia was Miriana Teśanović, who had fled from war to the Czech Republic with her 9-year-old daughter. She has a university degree and works as an assistant to a politician. Vrba concludes their troublesome life story, "They spent eight years here, her daughter studied at Czech elementary and secondary schools. Then they returned home. Her daughter was graduated from university and now they would like to go back to the Czech Republic. They have no family in Bosnia anymore and earning their livelihood there is tough."

The films are being made so that the Czechs learn about their international aid. "We hardly realise how well off we are," nods Vrba. Nováček mentions that the Czech Republic spends approximately €160 million every year on development aid. "It includes, however, the annual contributions to the UN and EU funds and the financing of refugee camps," said Nováček. The resources allocated annually to the poor countries are estimated at €32 million. The Czech aid comes to approximately 0.1 per cent of Czech GNP.

Two visits

The university crew travels to every country twice. "In order to eliminate the risk," says Vernerová. They start with selecting the most suitable projects and locations, and then make up the storyboard of the film.

"At the beginning, there's just a theme, never the script," explains Vrba. "We never shoot everything at once. It is not easy to round up the local crews, pick the best season of the year, have luck with good weather, find reliable suppliers…" For instance, they lost one out of every two shooting days in Serbia due to heavy rain, while in Moldova they needed to capture both the spring and autumn because of Moldovan wine. They film the sewage facilities, chemical factories, electric power stations as well as educational projects. "Above all, we try to find out why and how the particular country got into such a situation. We describe what we see around us, explain the history. And most of all we try to provide authentic information from the local people. This is what matters to us," said Vrba.

He tries to find out what each of his projects truly brings to people. "The reason why we are successful is that we are not a commercial TV crew, but university filmmakers," adds Vrba.

Slowly and diligently

The material grows slowly. They often have to bump for hours over broken roads just for a few shots. Food can be a problem too. After two film trips, they spend a month in the editing room, transcribing every word by every person, adding comments, writing the script. If need be, archive shots are being added too, but mainly it is music, composed by Ilja Zlámal and mastered by Martin Buka.

All the previous documentary films are available at the Palacký University channel on YouTube. Bosnia and Hercegovina will have its premiere screening on December 12, 2012. Finishing touches will follow after the ceremonial premiere, such as English subtitles.

"The running time of 27 minutes was required by Czech Television. In the end, it makes the film suitable for all kinds of presentations when we tour schools and various institutions. It can be shown within a class hour, including the commentary," said Eva Vernerová. Their previous documentary, Mongolia, was screened at 40 locations. Bosnia and Hercegovina is expected to be just as successful.

---