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HERE'S THE GOAL

Title - HERE'S THE GOAL
Genre - Documentary
Duration - 00:57:47
Format: HD, DCP

How did a football match mark the end of the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and how did football, for one day, become the most important thing in the world?

There is no main hero here; we are all heroes—all of us who went through the darkness of war and found light in the simple act of attending a football match.

Football is more than just a game. It is a language we all understand, regardless of where we were born or what we've been through. On that cold December day in 1995, the moment they stepped onto the field, those people were no longer just players, fans, or journalists. They became bearers of hope, symbols of resistance, and messengers of a future where peace and normal life would once again be possible. These were moments when people felt they were returning to a life they dared not forget.

Here's The Goal tells the story of the first football match in Bosnia and Herzegovina after the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement. Just twenty days after the official end of the conflict, two matches for the Republika Srpska Cup final were held—first in Prijedor, then in Banja Luka. In the return match at the Banja Luka stadium, over 20,000 spectators gathered. For the first time in five years, war and politics were not the main focus. The media reported: "Yesterday, weapons spoke here; today, football is being played." Footballers, fans, journalists… came straight "from the trenches" to the stadium.

This match was a collective catharsis; the war was finally over!

Here's The Goal is a film with a strong anti-war message. Through the football elements of the final match, we see the genuine need to affirm life. A place once destroyed by war and suffering has become internationally recognized, a space of hope and future.

  • Suzana Lazic
    Director
  • Ljubomir Tesinic
    Writer
  • Zoran Prnjatovic
    Writer
  • Ljubomir Tesinic
    Producer
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    EVO GOLA
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Television
  • Runtime:
    57 minutes 47 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    September 3, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    25,000 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Country of Filming:
    Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Language:
    Serbian
  • Shooting Format:
    MOV, 4K
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Distribution Information
  • Ljubomir Tesinic
    Distributor
    Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Suzana Lazic

Suzana Lazić was born in Banja Luka in 1971. She studied at the Academy of Arts in Banja Luka and has over thirty years of directing experience working on the most demanding television projects in the Republic of Srpska. She was one of the directors of the World Rafting Championship, which was broadcast live for the first time. Throughout her career, she has realized several hundred different television formats, including music videos, concerts (Demofest, OK Fest, Kastelfest, EXIT 84 in Jahorina, outdoor concert of the Symphony Orchestra NPRS), recordings of theater performances, cultural and educational programs, religious broadcasts, children's shows, sports programs, festivals, political shows, New Year's and variety programs, quizzes, and all other television forms.

She has directed Dučić Poetry Evenings, memorials at the Donja Gradina memorial site, the Svetosavska Award ceremony, and a donor evening under the auspices of the President of RS. She directed a documentary program about the Diocese of Zahumlje-Herzegovina and the Coast. At the suggestion of Emir Kusturica, she directed the TV broadcast of the ballet of construction machinery, performed during the beginning of the construction of Andrićgrad. She has collaborated on a dozen documentary projects produced by Radio Television Republic Srpska.

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Director Statement

In 1995, I was already quite tired of the harsh reality. My family was in Serbia, and I was in Banja Luka. My generation bore the enormous burden of the evil that befell us. I had been working at the Serbian Radio Television for three years. My colleagues would go on assignments from which we did not know if they would return. We lived in an atmosphere of fear, negativity, bad news, and uncertainty. I witnessed wartime events and media manipulations in this region. It created an image that wild people, beasts, and an anti-nation had come to conquer and seize.

My personal motivation to work on this film is what I call the "second half." I want to show our side of the story from that time—that ordinary, normal people lived, worked, fought for survival, and played football here, then and now. And they will continue to do so.

For all the people, including those who are no longer with us, I want to tell this story.

Suzana Lazić, Director