Otto - Connections to Sarajevo

The siege of Sarajevo was one of the largest and longest of modern times where thousands of children and adults were injured and
killed. The Cellist of Sarajevo and Welcome to Sarajevo (1997) are two examples of how different perspectives can bring different themes forward that fuel war, as well as fight and stand against it.

In the cellist of Sarajevo, four lives of four different people who don't know each other are told. While they all seamlessly connect and their lives cross, they have never met. These people are all connected through a cellist, who every day will sit in the middle of the street playing the cello. He does this for twenty two days in a row in memory of the twenty two innocent people who died from a bombing while they were trying to purchase bread that was most likely overpriced. The cellist brought people out and gave them hope; each day he returned to play for the people who died, while those still living listened. This fictional novel, based off of real events and characters uses the power of art and music to bring a society together and to give them hope, and we see this through the perspective of each character. We begin to understand their daily lives, with the horrors surrounding them, as well as how issues were dealt with and how far people will go to save others, may they be family, neighbors, or strangers who inspire.

In Welcome to Sarajevo, director Michael Winterbottom creates Sarajevo as how the rest of the world saw it during the years when it was under siege. In the film, we follow a group of reporters who are all trying to get the best story, while putting their lives in danger, as well as trying to make the world understand the horrors of what is going on in the world. Humanity runs through these journalists as they attempt to save children of an orphanage, as well as connect with anyone willing to share their story to the world. This film is yet another example of how the world turned its back on a group of people.

Both of these works illustrate the horrors of the
siege of Sarajevo from 1992-93, yet one portrays Sarajevo from the perspective
of the victims, brought together by music and hope, while the other shows what
the world was seeing from the view of their reporters and humanitarian aid, and
how the world reacted, doing nothing or saving lives. Depending on the
connection a person had to Sarajevo would likely lead to what horrors were read
or seen, and seeing Sarajevo from multiple perspectives allows us to view the
picture as a whole to really see how horrible humans can be, as well as how inspiring
they can be to themselves and others.