This Man's Land

A profile of director Danis Tanovic and his new political party, "Our Party."

Excerpts:

“For me, the international community is nonsense; it’s something that doesn’t really exist. What do exist are French, English, American interests …,” he said at a recent meeting of Our Party. Bosnia’s government has been under international supervision since the Dayton accords ended the war in 1995. “I can't see why would they do a single thing contrary to their interests – everybody works in their own best interest. So that's why we need to start working in our own interest, for our country. I don't think anybody in Bosnia has the right to just wait for things to get better.”

If we want to create a better future for ourselves, we have to stop dealing with the same old issues that aren’t the real issues that must be dealt with,” he said. Chief among them, the ethnic divisions that retard the country’s progress. “I always liked diversity. I'm glad to be from a country full of diversity and I have to admit that countries without it are quite boring.”

Marjanovic said the party would focus on social justice. “The situation in Bosnia is such that we’ve taken the worst of capitalism and find it in such a way that it’s exploitation. So we’re going to keep talking about the fact that there are so many unemployed people in this country, that people’s vital interest … is to be able to work in proper conditions and have a good and dignified life that you support with the fruits of that labor -- a proper salary. Your vital national interest is to have a proper health care system, to be able to send your kids to good schools in this country, to buy them books, to feed and clothe them, and to secure them a future. We’re talking about your everyday problems and we’re able to identify at that level with the public in this country.