In the area Balkans, someone's death is sometimes more important than life. Apart from the judgment of God, which follows us, and the judgment of History, if we have become known for anything, everyone must also pass through the vestibule of eternity, going through the funeral and memorial service in this world. Then those who will miss you say goodbye, some may celebrate your departure because you got on their nerves, and vlast and the State will arrange a commemoration according to your suitability.
Last week, we saw off several dear and deserving citizens to the next world. However, it turned out that these arcs for fame and honors are sometimes difficult to understand for the common man.
First, the folk singer passed away. Halid Bešlić, who has been the most popular Halid in this area since the early eighties. This other Khalid is alive and well, thank God, and should be singing/singing in Belgrade soon. In our area, Halid Bešlić is a bar legend, and Ivica Dacić likes to sing his songs at banquets and receptions, when he gets hold of the microphone.
Halid survived the war in Bosnia, but actually remained a Yugoslav, popular in all parts of the former SFRY. Since he himself came from a humble background, and earned money by singing, he helped the poor as much as he could. They say he was a good man, loved beer, loved garlic with everything, opened a gas station and a hotel, the whole of Sarajevo came to his funeral. That would be it, because there was no shortage of good people and good singers in Bosnia, thank God, but something unusual happened when people throughout Yugoslavia spontaneously felt the need to say goodbye to him. The tabloids immediately jumped on this story, and politicians in the region could breathe a sigh of relief for a few days because the people said goodbye to Khalid.
As expected, in BiH the entities did not agree on a day of mourning, which was declared only in the Federation, but I saw in Banja Luka, on Michaelmas Day, a thousand people who were part of the "Heart for Halid" action. They sang his songs, some cried, and he gave the last concert in his life right in Banja Luka. Khalid, who did not want diamonds, became a point for the collective projection of people in the region, eager for respite from the constant crisis they have been living in since the collapse of the SFRY. That's why it's hypocritical that media tycoons, politicians, entertainers, all those who now praise Khalid because he didn't hate, he was simple and modest and not politically or nationally angry, bought, gathered at the commemoration. All of them posthumously wanted to scratch themselves, to present themselves to us as "paradise". Actually, in this sale of pain, I mostly saw a bunch of paps who want to blind people's eyes, so that they don't think about expensiveness, affairs, peaceful and restless Bosnia, Russians, Americans, sad fates of guest workers and desolate youth.
He died a few days later in Belgrade Zdravko Sotra, one of the people who invented television in Yugoslavia. This is not a metaphor, because at the age of 92, Shotra directed TV classics in entertainment, documentaries and feature programs. He says that the hardest time for him was when he worked on "Face to Face", a TV show that even today we cannot reach. Milena and Gaga, the band, dramatic sketches, famous guests and, of course, at the end they all sing some hit classic together. Acting, singing, dancing, stand up, intelligent social criticism, packed into a Friday night format. This alone would make him go down in history. Šotra was a genius documentarian, who managed to portray the tragic legacy of Yugoslavia objectively, but without hatred and political manipulation. He was born in Herzegovina, in a region and family that survived the terrible Ustasha massacre, but he processed the war and its scars with the intention of not forgetting them and not repeating them. That's why I think its healing role is best seen in movies and series like: Maternal brothers, Idemo dalje, More than a game, when he was stringing pearls together with screenwriter Slobodan Stojanović. Even then, he was able to depict great historical processes through the destinies of small people. It was the same with In sixth gear, with Zoran Radmilović as Master Life, the master of cars and people.
The third part of his oeuvre is historical themes and screen adaptations of literary works, from Zamfirova Zone, which is still today, with 1,2 million viewers, the most viewed film of all time in Serbia, over Mir Jam Wounded Eagle, Her mother's sin, from Alexandra of Yugoslavia, where the story of the community of South Slavs was symbolically put to an end.
In every country, on every public service, on all commercial televisions, the departure of Zdravko Shotra would be news as important as Khalid's funeral, but unfortunately that did not happen.
OK, he had Shotra's works which, at least for me, were not my favorite, certainly not all of Khalid's songs were hits, but the man who had an oeuvre of Barking at the stars do Diary of insults he deserved more serious honors. The only, and perhaps the most important, reason for this media silence is the fact that the witty and witty Shotra openly criticized the current government, which is why he is being given a silent send-off. Actors and actresses from his series were invited on television for several days, and he once published a book My 500 actors, in which he thanked them in a wonderful way.
Only after his departure will those who took him for granted discover how much of a void remains on television, especially on RTS. Watching this unfortunate screenplay again Nemanjić or Pink's debacle as a series Red moon about the creation of the SHS Kingdom, we can see firsthand how difficult it is to portray the era on screen. Even Shotrin Battle in Kosovo, which today we see as a camp hit, with all its flaws seems incomparably better and more competent.
Fortunately, projects like Saber, which are achieving success at world festivals, show that it is possible to make a quality series dealing with historical events, despite RTS begging for money and then for broadcasting. It seems that there are still smart, witty and creative people who will bark at the stars.
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