Stolen Kosovo: the Czech Documentary
a film by Václav Dvořák [with English subtitles]
From the Wikipedia entry on the film:
“Stolen Kosovo (Czech: Uloupené Kosovo, Serbian: Украдено Косово, Ukradeno Kosovo) is a 2008 Czech language documentary by director Václav Dvořák (b. 1948), about events during and following the Kosovo War.
The documentary describes the situation in Kosovo, first in a short overview of the history of the area, followed by the 1990s conflicts and bombing of Serbia by NATO forces in 1999 and ending with the situation after the Kosovo War. The documentary focuses on 1990s in the time of Slobodan Milošević’s rule as well as on numerous interviews of Serbian civilians and, less, of Albanian insurgents against the Milošević regime.
Although the Czech Television (Česká televize) was one of the sponsors of the documentary, it delayed broadcasting it several times, claiming the documentary was “unbalanced” and marked with “pro-Serbian bias”, and so “the tone of the documentary could cause negative emotions.” Václav Dvořák, the director, responded that the same could be said for “Holocaust documentaries, where the Nazi Germany ‘side’ and ‘views’ are also appropriately ignored”.
The documentary producer, Aleš Bednář, additionally stated the film-makers don’t rule out that some viewers could feel it was “unbalanced”, but only because they had been “lopsidedly informed about Balkan conflicts through years, above all by television, but by other media as well.”
Its first broadcasting, scheduled for 17 March 2008, on the 4th anniversary of the ethnic clashes in Kosovo in 2004, was postponed until April, and was eventually broadcaste with a follow-up show analyzing the Kosovo conflict from the point of view of the Kosovo Albanians. The creators of the documentary published it on YouTube, where it is still available (as of September 2015).
The documentary describes the situation in Kosovo, first in a short overview of the history of the area, followed by the 1990s conflicts and bombing of Serbia by NATO forces in 1999 and ending with the situation after the Kosovo War. The documentary focuses on 1990s in the time of Slobodan Milošević’s rule as well as on numerous interviews of Serbian civilians and, less, of Albanian insurgents against the Milošević regime.
Although the Czech Television (Česká televize) was one of the sponsors of the documentary, it delayed broadcasting it several times, claiming the documentary was “unbalanced” and marked with “pro-Serbian bias”, and so “the tone of the documentary could cause negative emotions.” Václav Dvořák, the director, responded that the same could be said for “Holocaust documentaries, where the Nazi Germany ‘side’ and ‘views’ are also appropriately ignored”.
The documentary producer, Aleš Bednář, additionally stated the film-makers don’t rule out that some viewers could feel it was “unbalanced”, but only because they had been “lopsidedly informed about Balkan conflicts through years, above all by television, but by other media as well.”
Its first broadcasting, scheduled for 17 March 2008, on the 4th anniversary of the ethnic clashes in Kosovo in 2004, was postponed until April, and was eventually broadcaste with a follow-up show analyzing the Kosovo conflict from the point of view of the Kosovo Albanians. The creators of the documentary published it on YouTube, where it is still available (as of September 2015).
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