The audience in Banja Luka had a chance to see the regional acomplishment, the “Diary of Diana Budisavljevic” film, in the ”CineStar 4DX Delta Planet” multiplex.
The premiere, which took place in three halls of the cinema because of the audience’s great interest. The audience was greeted by the film director Dana Budisavljević, leading actress Alma Prica, head of the historical research Silvestar Mileta and the witness Živko Zelenbrz.
The action launched by an Austrian woman of Croatian descent, Diana Budisavljević, led to rescuing more than 10,000 Serb children from Ustasha camps during the World War II. She was determined and courageous in seeking all possible ways to help the unfortunate and innocent children and women, who had been unjustly taken from their homes. And she succeeded. The wast audience, before the screening, was greeted by the film director Dana Budisavljević, who emphasized that they were honored to be in this area, from which were most children that Diana rescued from the camp. ”That is why the Banja Luka premiere of the film means a great deal to everyone and is a great event”, said Budisavljević.
Three ”CineStar” cinema halls were filled with people eager to hear the warm human story of Diana Budisavljević, the courageous and determinated heroine. The honest emotions of the viewers could be felt throughout the film, and it was certain that everyone went home with a warm feeling in their heart at the end of the screening.
The historian Silvestar Mileta did not hide the feeling of great pleasure to be a part of this art. Actress Alma Prica, who was credited with the leading role, said that one should not always mention bad people and stories, but to highlight the good ones.
Particular emotions in the audience were aroused by the appearance of one of the film’s main actors, witness Živko Zelenbrz, who was one of the children rescued from the camp. Even today, Živko does not know who his parents were, nor his date and place of birth.
He was rescued through Diana’s action and taken to the Institute for the Deaf Children in Zagreb’s Ilica Street, from where he was adopted when he was about four years old. Although in his late years and marked by Ustasha crimes, this remarkable man stated that we should all work together so that such things would never happen again.
At the end of the screening, the audience, with a standing ovation of several minutes and enthusiasm, greeted the team that had worked hard for 10 years on the film, which was produced in the Croatian-Slovenian-Serbian co-production. The work of the brave Diana Budisavljević was posthumously rewarded and deservedly preserved from oblivion. More than 70 years took to come to this, but director Dana Budisavljević and the entire team involved in the making of this film, made the effort to preserve the great work of a great woman in the darkest times of the last century.
TST