‘Don't label yourself as vulnerable’

In his life and work, the war in his native Bosnia played an important role. But now Mustafa Hadziibrahimovic wants to look forward. ‘The challenges of life are many.’ 

Over 27 years ago, Mustafa Hadziibrahimovic fled from Bosnia to the Netherlands at the age of 15. All alone, leaving his family, friends and parents behind in the unsafe homeland. Now he is a successful documentary filmmaker, writer, journalist and teacher. He has worked for various broadcasters and programmes, including Omroep West, Pauw & Witteman, Netwerk, De Halve Maan and Nieuwsuur. His documentaries have been screened at several film festivals worldwide and nominated for awards. His most recent documentary, Wounded Gold, is a portrait of the sitting volleyball team of Bosnia and Herzegovina. All the team's players were badly injured during or after the Bosnian war. In addition, Mustafa wrote a book about his life in Bosnia and the Netherlands (The war in me).

What was your life like in Bosnia before the war broke out?
‘I grew up in a happy, close-knit family in the town of Brcko, in northern Bosnia. My parents were middle-class Yugoslavs and as a family we went on holidays regularly. I had many friends, was a good student at school and had a great time.
As a child, you look at the world differently from an adult. I was a very happy child. Life was beautiful in the former Yugoslavia before the war. It felt like the war killed that happiness and beauty. Before the war, like any child, I had a dream to build a life there in my own country and make it come true.’

What memories do you have of the war?
‘On 4 April 1992, war broke out. I had heard many stories, but it wasn't until 30 April that my town of Brcko was also attacked. The shooting, mortar shells and bombings were the first real scenes of war I heard and saw as a child. I knew then that war was inevitably coming or actually already underway. It's like being in a horror movie, in a nightmare that you can't stop. We were Yugoslavs being attacked by other Yugoslavs. It was painful, surreal and disturbing, and in the beginning I also found it exciting. Because what are the chances of experiencing a war in your lifetime? That's what I thought as a child. At the first bombings, I thought it was thundering, just like many Dutch people thought when the Germans attacked the Netherlands in 1940.
After the capture of my town and my neighbourhood, I was taken to Luka concentration camp one night in May 1992 with my parents, my uncle and my neighbours. That was the worst night in my life and I grew up overnight.’
On 9 November 1993, I fled Bosnia. I left everything. My family, friends, schoolmates, neighbours, my city and homeland. That date is for me the end of an era, of a beautiful life I had in Bosnia before the war.’

What role does the Balkan war still play in your work today and how has it changed your life?
‘Of course the war plays a big role in my life and in the choices I made. At the beginning of my life in the Netherlands, when I came here as a child, I was in secondary school and busy learning the Dutch language. At some point, I came up with the idea of studying journalism.
At that time, the whole world was covering the news of the Balkan war. I thought journalists were performing brave tasks and putting their lives at risk to bring out the truth. Visiting my family in Germany one summer, I met a journalist who wrote a story about my uncle sending food, goods and money to war-ravaged Bosnia. This journalist encouraged me to study journalism later.’

What inspires you?
‘Every person has a story you could write a book about or make a film about. I am busy with life, like many others. Everything starts with yourself. Becoming aware of your own thoughts and trying to turn them into something positive. And trying to surround yourself with people who inspire and motivate you. When you look around and think about the world and the neighbourhood you live in, you meet people with different backgrounds and stories. All those stories are the result of a fragile confluence of circumstances and fate.’

What are you working on now?
‘I have turned the page on the war and the painful memories associated with it, I am no longer writing about that. The challenges of life are many, maybe I'll write another book on something a completely different subject or make a documentary.’

What is your motto in life? 
‘Two years ago, I wanted to make a documentary about a housing complex in Amsterdam where people with disabilities live. I read a beautiful text there: “Focus on that what's strong, not what's wrong”. I believe in that. Look for the strength and abilities of yourself and others and don't label yourself and other people as vulnerable. We should focus on people's capabilities and not their weaknesses. Everyone can do something. Everyone has at least one talent. Keep having faith in yourself and others. No matter how hard it is sometimes. If you stop doing that, you give up hope. And without hope, life becomes difficult.’

Photo: Negin Zendegani