|
 |
|
|
|
|
"What I like about pop music, and why I'm still attracted to it, is that in the end it becomes our folk music." -- Bono, 2004 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
"What I like about pop music, and why I'm still attracted to it, is that in the end it becomes our folk music." -- Bono, 2004 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
Meet Alma, a 'Miss Sarajevo'
@U2,
February 13, 2004
[Continued from Bill Carter: A Wanderer Rushed In...]
The story how Bill and I met is actually quite funny. I first saw Bill when he came to Sarajevo for the first time...before he had any idea for the linkups with U2. I used to live (and I still do) just across the street from the Unis towers, where Bill lived during his stay in Sarajevo. When the war started in my country, I was only 12. I couldn't figure out what was going on...nobody could. My friends and I realized that our childhood is somehow ruined -- and everyone was guilty. We couldn't accept the fact that we somehow depended on "strangers," as we called people from abroad. We just didn't want others to feel pity for us. Bill, together with "Serious Road Trip," was just another intruder in my country, who would stay for few days, give away some food, and once he realizes how bad [the] situation was, he'd run for his life, back to his country, to a safe territory, with plenty of food, chocolate, water, electricity...that was the reason why I didn't like Bill at the beginning. As I just said he was just another "stranger." My friends and I used to call him and everyone else from "SRT" names. The others were responding sometimes, everyone but Bill, and it was actually great fun for us. Between all those grenades and shootings, something interesting was happening. But Bill never wanted to quarrel with us. He was, in a way, different from the rest of the guys. As time passed by, I got used to seeing him in the neighborhood. The funny thing was that he didn't leave Sarajevo after only [a] few days. In fact he was there for quite some time. He even used to go and come back! "What a strange guy," I used to think. Then, one day, while I was hanging out with my friends in this alley just across the street from the Unis towers, Bill suddenly appeared just 'round the corner. He came to me, and we simply started to talk. Sometimes before someone in my neighborhood mentioned that "the guy with the long hair from the SRT" did satellite linkup with the U2 alive from the concert. I knew it was Bill. I could not see that on TV, because back then we didn't have electricity for months, but for the first time I realized that someone really cares. When I talked to Bill that day I realized that he was one of the good guys. My childhood, and my whole life has changed after that day. We became great friends, and used to spend hours in talking...it meant so much to me. He was my window out into the world, from the dark box I lived in at that time. He used to go everywhere with his small camera, shooting me, my friends, everything he thought to be interesting. For us, it was great fun. Then, he left and came back with Miss Sarajevo. He brought me the videotape, but some time passed by before I first saw it, of course, because of electricity. He told me all about the movie, about U2 involvement, MTV thing -- you cannot imagine how excited I was! At the time, I used to like rap music, and group East 17, but when Bill gave me Zooropa CD, I was honored to be one of the very rare persons in the city that have that CD, even though I couldn't listen to it. I remember people whom I had never seen come to my door to ask if they could borrow the CD. Everyone liked U2 in the city, not only because of their music, but because they cared... You asked me what do I think about being a character in his documentary. Without exaggerating, Miss Sarajevo made my life, my existence in Sarajevo much happier and easier. During the most difficult periods, when I was scared, cold, hungry, I had something to be proud of. Bill told me that people liked it, and I was proud of being part of such a great thing. Many people sent me messages via Bill, and all these things gave me strength and kept me alive. Even today when I remember these days, I feel that excitement. The movie presented the real spirit of Sarajevo. One had to become one of the "Sarajevans" (meaning to be citizen of Sarajevo -- I hope you understand my point here) to make such a great film. And Carter obviously was one of us, and, may I say, he still is. Miss Sarajevo introduced to the world, both the horror that was happening at the time, and the strength of Sarajevo's spirit that can never be destroyed. And the book...when I first read the book, I couldn't sleep for days. I recollected all my memories and emotions, as if my whole childhood, which was spent in the war, was somehow transferred onto these pages. It's not only because I'm one of the characters in the book. I believe that anyone who was in Sarajevo during the war could find a piece for (or should I say "of") him/herself there. The entire book is so realistic, it exposes the real, true story about Sarajevo and the war, and goes into details; I could actually hear the dog barking into the night, the wind blowing through the broken windows, or the grenades falling somewhere in the distance. I could easily visualize it all in my head. While reading it, I recalled not only horror of the war, but I also remembered all the great things that happened -- meeting Carter, filming, my friends I used to hang out with, all those days I spent in that back alley, surrounded with the people I loved...I'm so glad that I have this book to remind me of who I was then, and who I am today; and to remind me of how the life is precious. I see this book as a true story about losing and gaining, about sorrow and happiness, about amazing abilities and goals one can achieve under utmost unbearable and incredible circumstances without even knowing he did so. Life is so full of thrilling revelations, and Carter is a living proof... When he came to Sarajevo, his life has changed, and he changed our lives...I thank him for that. © @U2/Pancella, 2004.
|
|
|
||||||
|
||||||||
