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You probably have never heard of Walter defends Sarajevomuch less watched. Produced in Yugoslavia in the 1970s and taking place in World War II, the film follows a communist guerrilla leader (named Walter) fighting the Nazi occupation forces.
It may seem obscure, but a new museum dedicated to the film has just opened in Sarajevo, capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and officials plan a tourist route, with geolocation, which allows to visit places where several scenes of the film were shot.
To understand why, it is useful to know the importance of the film in a particular country: China. Hundreds of millions of Chinese have watched Walter defends Sarajevo, making it one of the most watched war movies of all time. Bosnia and Herzegovina seeks to build on this history – and its generally positive relations with China – to attract Chinese tourists, whose numbers are growing. Negotiations are even underway to redo Walter defends Sarajevo Jasmin Durakovic, director of the Sarajevo Film Center, where the museum is located, told Quartz.
Although Walter defends Sarajevo was produced half a century ago and depicts a country that no longer exists, the film traces an important history between China and the Balkans – and should define Sino-Balkan relations in the years to come.
The Valter Bran Sarajevo Museum, which opened last weekend, features rooms with various scenes, statues of wax figures and multimedia content dedicated to the film. Durakovic said he expects it to be a major attraction for Chinese tourists already flocking to the Balkans. "Right after the museum's first week of work, we see tourists coming from China," he said.
There is also a demand for Walterthemed trips, including a 12-day Balkan trip (link in Chinese) offered by a California-based operator, including a day trip to Sarajevo, where Walter was filmed.
The cult of Valter
Walter defends Sarajevo was one of the very few foreign films to be screened in China during the Cultural Revolution and, for many viewers, it was a window onto the unknown outside world. His story of a courageous and successful communist resistance against the tyranny of fascism made it an immediate success in China, catapulting the actor Velimir "Bata" Zivojinovic, who played Walter, to the rank of star. Walter became China's most successful foreign film in the 1970s and the most-watched Yugoslav film of all time.
One of the first places in the 1970s in China to sift Walter was the Shanghai Culture Square, the city's first cinema where award-winning films were shown before being seen elsewhere. Later, in movie theaters across the country, people lined up en mbade to see Walter, for which the notes were often completely exhausted. And last year again, a theatrical adaptation of Walter, played in Mandarin, was presented at the Shanghai Center for Dramatic Arts.
The film proved so popular that a Chinese beer brand was named in Walter's honor and that the cans were adorned with Zivojinovic's chiseled face. The iconic lines of the movie, including "Do you see this city? That's Walter! "- is rooted in the collective memory of a whole Chinese generation.
Other Yugoslav films also performed well in China around the same time, but none matched the success of Walter. One of the reasons for their success is that they have offered a welcome respite to the cookie cutter, a simplistic revolutionary opera model from the period of the Cultural Revolution, wrote a Chinese critic in 2016 (in Chinese). In the operas, noted the critic, the good ones were all alike (handsome, confident, dressed in the uniform of the worker), "whereas in Yugoslav films, the" good "do not look like" good "and to the "bad guys" to have a positive image.These non-stereotypical artistic expressions refreshed the Chinese people. "
Courtesy Filmski Centar Sarajevo
Today, said Durakovic, "Bosnia, and especially Sarajevo, shares with China feelings and values very close to the events of its past, especially those concerning the Second World War, [its former president Josip Broz Tito]. Because of all this, the film and now the museum … connect the people and culture of Bosnia and China. "
Last year, Bosnia and Herzegovina removed the visa requirement for Chinese tourists. Mladen Ivanic, a former member of the country's presidency, predicted that the "worship of Valter" would lead to a sharp increase in their number, which was already rising.
A tool of diplomacy
The film also plays an important role in relations between China and Serbia, which was part of the former Yugoslavia but which is now a country located east of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The influx of Chinese visitors to this country – doubling in 2018 compared to the previous year – comes as China invests heavily in one of the poorest countries in Europe. Trade between the two countries tripled between 2005 and 2016. Last year, Beijing and Belgrade signed economic agreements worth $ 3 billion.
Petar Milošević on Wikimedia Commons, under license CC-BY-SA-4.0
For Serbia, these agreements represent infrastructure investments that it desperately needs and which, hopefully, will stimulate the economy. For China, they represent a significant anchor point in south-eastern Europe and an opportunity to strengthen its influence and influence in Serbia and other Balkan countries that will likely become members of the European Union (payment wall) in the near future. The influence of China on Eastern Europe, for its part, worries the West.
During the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Serbia in 2016 – the first of a Chinese head of state for thirty years – the two countries have signed a series of economic agreements strengthening China's presence in the Balkans while it was looking to use the region as a strategic breakthrough in the rest of the European market.
As the links between China and Serbia tighten, it appears that Walter defends Sarajevo will be a practical and tested cultural diplomacy tool for both countries. In fact, he has already played this role. During his visit, Xi also took the time to indulge in nostalgia for the film. During a lavish state banquet during which the then Serbian President, Tomislav Nikolić, welcomed his Chinese counterpart, the theme song of the film began to play (link in Chinese).
Xi did not skip a beat saying, "I remember movies like Walter defends Sarajevo… were once very popular in China. They evoked the feeling of patriotism of people and accompanied the youthful period of our generation. "
At the end of the banquet, Xi and Nikolić went to the table of Julijana Lula Zivojinovic, widow of the late actor Zivojinovic, who played Walter. She told Xi: "My husband has always loved China, always loved the Chinese."
Tripti Lahiri contributed to this story.
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