MOSTAR HVO (incomplete title on label, partly illegible) [Allocated Title]

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  • Title: MOSTAR HVO (incomplete title on label, partly illegible) [Allocated Title]
  • Film Number: UNT 992
  • Other titles: UNITED NATIONS TELEVISION (UNTV) ZAGREB COLLECTION, YUGOSLAVIA [Allocated Series Title]
  • Summary: Cedric Thornberry, Head of Civil Affairs, accompanied by a SPABAT convoy, visits west Mostar. There, he has meetings with representatives of the Croatian authorities and with medical staff, at the local hospital. SPABAT deliver medical supplies to the hospital. On this occasion, UNPROFOR are unable to negotiate access to east Mostar.
  • Description: Shots of UN compound. Shot pulls out from the rooftops of nearby houses. Panning shot across the village. UN tank moves along the dusty road. UN staff and soldiers stand beside a UN hut. UN staff, wearing blue caps, jog along the road. Further shots of the UN compound and the village beyond. Shots of a different UN building. Two Royal Navy helicopters land to refuel. A BRITBAT medical sergeant stands in the belly of one of the helicopters beside a mounted machine gun. He sits beside a window on the opposite side of the helicopter. A group of UN personnel climb aboard a helicopter. Shots of the sea through the window. Shot of SPABAT soldier in an APC. Cedric Thornberry, Head of Civil Affairs, inspects SPABAT soldiers. The Spanish flag flies behind a table where Cedric Thornberry is briefed by SPABAT officers. SPABAT soldiers in an APC convoy. UN flag blows in the wind. Convoy travels through the countryside and into west Mostar. People on the streets are not openly pleased to see them. Only a few wave at the convoy as it passes. A Danish Police officer jumps down from an APC to talk to a woman. Meeting between UNPROFOR staff, including Cedric Thornberry and SPABAT officers, and representatives of the Croatian authorities in west Mostar. External shots of UN APCs and children playing around them. Meeting comes to an end. People file out of the room as cameras flash. Outside Cedric Thornberry climbs into a car. SPABAT convoy waits outside a hospital in west Mostar. Shots of soldiers unloading medical supplies and carrying them to the hospital. Cedric Thornberry is briefed by hospital staff and by a soldier, who speaks on behalf of the Croatian Council of Defence, about the problems in central Bosnia. Interview with Cedric Thornberry outside the hospital. He says that UNPROFOR want to do everything possible to open up Mostar so that aid can be delivered because “the level of suffering is unacceptable”. He says that he has discussed the issue of access to both sides of Mostar by the international community to local authorities on the western side. They in turn raised the problem of central Bosnia and the perceived lack of international effort to solve matters there. He admits that central Bosnia is “a mess” at the moment and that access is very difficult for both the UN and other international humanitarian agencies. He says that the UN is some way from making Mostar a UN-administered city. They need a mandate, resources and access before that could happen. He says that creating a UN administration in Mostar would be a last resort. He says that the main problem is that until today the UN has not had access to Mostar. Today, they were only able to symbolically deliver medical aid to a single hospital. He says “authorities have to...let humanitarian aid back into Mostar”. He does not rule out the idea of humanitarian aid drops as this tactic was successfully used in Srebrenica to keep it partially supported before convoys were able to arrive. He says that they have not given up on visiting east Mostar today but that organising the permission to do so is a very laborious task. He wants to find out what conditions are like on the other side. Panning shot from the hospital to the UNPROFOR convoy. Shots of the convoy on the road. Shots of a helicopter flying over the coastline, taken from a second helicopter.
  • Alternative Title: UNITED NATIONS TELEVISION (UNTV) ZAGREB COLLECTION, YUGOSLAVIA [Allocated Series Title]
  • Colour: B&W
  • Digitised:
  • Object_Number: UNT 992
  • Sound: Bosnian (Tape Code B)
  • Access Conditions:
  • Featured Period: 1990-2000
  • Production Date: 1993-08
  • Production Country: UN
  • Production Details:
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations: Thornberry, Cedric (person)
  • Keywords: Bosnia-Herzegovina & Mostar (geography)
  • Physical Characteristics:
  • Technical Details: Format: Hi-8 Footage: 60; Running time: 40 mins
  • HD Media:
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    UNT 992

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