The film about the Operation Storm was shown on the main square, in the cinema, and on TV by the Serbs

While Croats celebrated their national holiday on August 5th, Serbs observed a day of mourning. Twenty-eight years after the “Operation Storm,” Croats celebrated their way in Knin, as Serbs held a commemoration in Prijedor. This marked the first time Serbs organized a memorial in the Bosnian-Herzegovinian town where they themselves committed war crimes. Simultaneously in Serbia, the much-discussed attraction was the widespread screening of the Serbian production “Oluja” (Storm), a film released in January. About four to five years ago, Croats already depicted their viewpoint of this period in the film “The General.” However, this film, portraying the “heroics” of Ante Gotovina, didn’t achieve substantial success and failed even at the Pula Film Festival. In contrast, in Serbia, failures like this are less likely, as the state ensures the success of such endeavors.

Traffic was also diverted due to the screening

In Sremska Mitrovica, traffic arrangements were altered as a massive screen was erected in Wheat Square on August 4th. The film “Oluja” was projected for free during this event.

Local reports suggest that the evening was a deeply moving experience for everyone present, and this impact was duplicated as the film had been previously shown in February.

The film Oluja (Storm) is being screened for free for the second time in Szávaszentdemeter, this time on Buza Square (Source: SirmiumInfo)

Typically, local government officials are mobilized for the screenings by the government. Moreover, these officials also assist in promoting these poignant productions through local media.

– The Storm is a 2023 war film that deals with the tragedy of the Serbian people in the territory of the Republika Srpska in Bosnia in 1995, it was a long time ago, but not a forgotten ethnic cleansing

 – said Svetlana Milovanović, mayor of Szávaszentdemeter, before the first screening, who conveyed the position of the Serbian government that the anniversary should be observed so that these things are not forgotten.

The film, which can be classified as a war drama and serves to revive Serbian national consciousness. It was created based on the idea of ​​the Belgrade-based Omega production, which realized the project in cooperation with the Serbian state telecommunications company, Telekom Srbija.

Vučić and the troll farm

The 150-minute production premiered in Belgrade on January 17th. Prior to this, on January 16th, the Serbian president expressed that the completion of the film titled “Storm” (Oluja) was “another thing to be proud of.” However, he also expressed regret that he couldn’t personally attend the screening as he had to represent Serbia in Davos.

– I am proud that we were able to achieve this. It shows that when we fight for the country, no matter how difficult it is, we can still succeed even though few participate in these projects. But we leave something behind

– stated the Serbian president, who surely did not just think – but knew – that this high-flying reflection would trigger the state troll farm. And on the morning of January 17th, within a few hours, for instance, the government-aligned Novosti website was already presenting opinions on the statement.

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From around midnight to the next morning, they managed to generate nearly two hundred positive and courteous comments, among which there are also “poetically inspired” ones. One commenter remarked, “It couldn’t have been easy to shoot scenes that even the stones wept at.”

For Serbian masochists who understand Serbian, they can find the nearly two hundred comments at this link. The difference between Serbian and Hungarian trolls, by the way, is that all Serbian trolls adhere to spelling rules.

So, the Serbian president couldn’t attend the screening of the film “Storm” because he was called to Davos by duty. However, he either punished or rewarded the government members by collectively sending them to a team-building movie screening. Such a joint effort was not shown by Serbian ministers, for instance, in the case of the massacre near Vladislav Ribnikar Elementary School or in the Mladenovac area. They did not organize a united movement for commemorating or placing flowers, for instance.

In a photo report, the Serbian pro-government press reported on the “team-building” film viewing of the Serbian ministers, which took place under the direction of Prime Minister Ana Brnabić (Source: Alo)

Migrant in the woods, mayor in the cinema

A huge outrage was caused among the residents of Hajdújárás, near Szabadka, when on August 3rd, Stevan Bakić, the mayor of Szabadka, left the participants of a village assembly barely half an hour after the meeting started. The meeting was about the migrant and security situation.

The mayor indicated at the beginning of the meeting that he couldn’t stay for long, and he adhered to that as he had urgent matters related to the commemoration organized in the Szabadka Art Cinema, named after Sándor Lifka.

In the Lifka Cinema, of course, they screened the film “Storm,” which, as we know, the president is proud of.

Before the film screening, the mayor gave a speech in which he emphasized that “Storm” symbolizes sadness for the Serbs, as it only caused pain, suffering, and loss.

He reminded everyone that to this day, not everyone who “forced the sick, elderly, women, children, farmers, animal breeders, and peasants to leave their homes and become wanderers” has been held accountable.

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In Serbia, even those who couldn’t fit into cinemas didn’t miss the new “patriotic boost.” Numerous national, cable, and local channels broadcasted the first feature film about the “genocide against Serbs.” For instance, the state-owned television broadcasted it in prime time at 9 p.m. on August 4th.

The film was scheduled immediately after the central commemoration ended in Prijedor, on the Bosnian Serb territories. According to Serbian wording, they commemorated and cross-marked the deceased Serbs due to the actions of the Croatian army and police.

The average Serbian citizen who watches the local state television thus received two doses of patriotism and nationalism that evening. At the same time, they could witness with their own eyes the Serbian political acrobatics, which slowly presents the Serbs as the suffering party while portraying all their evil neighbors as threats to their lives.