MOSTAR (title on labels) [Allocated Title]

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  • Title: MOSTAR (title on labels) [Allocated Title]
  • Film Number: UNT 933
  • Other titles: UNITED NATIONS TELEVISION (UNTV) ZAGREB COLLECTION, YUGOSLAVIA [Allocated Series Title]
  • Summary: UNPROFOR convoy travels into east Mostar. Cedric Thornberry, Head of UNPROFOR Civil Affairs, is shown the damage to the besieged city and the humanitarian situation in the hospital. SPABAT soldiers, in their APCs, are surrounded by children eager to climb on board. Residents queue to fill water containers under the hot sun.
  • Description: 01. Shot of UN car beside an information board about Medjugorje. SPABAT soldier stands at a sand-bagged checkpoint. A child sits beside the checkpoint. UN cars drive through. Shots of the boy sitting at the checkpoint. Panning shot from building to UN vehicles. Further shots of the boy and the soldier at the checkpoint. Two SPABAT soldiers converse. One has a white brassard with PM (Policia Militar) badge. Cedric Thornberry, Head of UNPROFOR Civil Affairs, and his staff thank a man, who then leaves in a car. Shot of SPABAT soldier on guard. The boy plays in the road. Two UNTV staff joke around on camera. Cedric Thornberry welcomes new people to the compound. They are introduced to Colonel Morales. This group of people stand in the compound and Cedric Thornberry thanks them. These men then also climb into cars and leave the compound. The UN flag waves above a scene of UN personnel and cars. UNPROFOR convoy on the road. Shadow of the convoy on the road. Shots looking out over the edge of the hillside road. Shots of surrounding countryside. The convoy crosses a wooden bridge. Inside the APC, one UNTV staff member explains that they are now at Mostar's aerodrome. Shot of UN APC on the runway. Blurry sequence. Lens covered by hand or beret or deliberately kept out of focus. The APC convoy continues to move closer to the east side of Mostar. Shots of people by the side of the road. The convoy is on a dry, dusty track. Then, the convoy is on a tarmac road. The APCs past damaged buildings and blocks of flats. People wave from the roadside and from these buildings. The convoy drives past a graveyard and a mosque. More and more people are gathered on the roadside to wave to the convoy as it enters the city. The stationary convoy fills the narrow street. A woman asks one of the SPABAT soldiers for help but he says that he does not know how long they are going to be here. Children line the streets. SPABAT remain in their APCs. Women carry water containers along the street. Children gather around an APC to ask for gifts. An old man accepts a cigarette from one of the soldiers. These children are cleared away. However, at another part of the convoy, a child has climbed up onto the APC to talk to the soldiers. A number of UNPROFOR soldiers disembark. Cedric Thornberry, Head of UNPROFOR Civil Affairs, stands in a blue helmet and flak jacket amongst a crowd of UN people. People continue to collect water or queue with empty containers for the communal hose. In a meeting room, Cedric Thornberry and other UN personnel sit around a table. The group includes a number of SPABAT officers. Shots of people queuing to collect water from a large tanker. People cook on a communal outdoor stove. A woman shows UNTV the fuel they are using, possibly the remains of some wooden furniture. Shots of APCs in the street. A woman looks down on the convoy from a window. The street is crowded with people. They are surrounding the APCs and clamouring for help and for handouts. Shots of people filling up water containers beside a damaged mosque. Others sit in the shade nearby. Close up shots on children’s faces. Two boys stand beside a wheelbarrow filled with water containers. Children sit on the APCs. SPABAT soldiers are engulfed by children. The Bosnian coat of arms is seen on the cornerstone of the surrounding buildings. Sounds of gunfire. Cedric Thornberry is back on the street. He walks along the street with his entourage. People point out the war damage to him. Members of the press are filming and taking photographs. In response to journalists’ questions, Cedric Thornberry says “it’s almost as bad as Vukovar...much worse than I had ever imagined...it’s been a complete siege for over one hundred days”. The group walks to the hospital (some of the shots are over exposed). Inside the hospital, the medical situation is explained to Cedric Thornberry. The group fills the narrow hospital corridors, some lined with patients. They go into the Intensive Care Unit. Patients look up from their beds. Cedric Thornberry asks if there are any anaesthetists in the hospital. A patient is on the table in an operating theatre. Close up shot on his face as a nurse stands beside him. The wards are crowded. Many of the patients are children. They all look thin. Cedric Thornberry talks to patients and their families. Medical supplies are unloaded from a UN APC. Cedric Thornberry forms part of the human chain, helping to pass the boxes from the APC to the hospital building. [59 mins] [Miscellaneous footage of Norwegian soldiers talking, attending a formal dinner and taking part in military drills] 02. Cedric Thornberry stands outside. Sounds of gunfire. Thornberry says, in exasperation, “there’s supposed to be a ceasefire here”. In answer to UNTV’s questions, Thornberry says that the UN has to do everything it can here. UNPROFOR’s next task is to organise a ceasefire and establish some kind of stable route for humanitarian aid into Mostar. He says that this area has been very badly damaged. Shots of Cedric Thornberry and his entourage walking alongside an APC. Shot from inside an APC as the door is closed. Convoy on the move along streets of ruined building. Looking back at a minaret, damaged by shell fire, as the convoy moves out of the city. UNTV staff joke around in an airplane. Shot of wheels on the runway as the airplane takes off. [8 mins]
  • Alternative Title: UNITED NATIONS TELEVISION (UNTV) ZAGREB COLLECTION, YUGOSLAVIA [Allocated Series Title]
  • Colour: Colour
  • Digitised:
  • Object_Number: UNT 933
  • Sound: Sound
  • Access Conditions:
  • Featured Period: 1990-2000
  • Production Date: 1993-08-21
  • Production Country: UN
  • Production Details:
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations: Thornberry, Cedric (person)
  • Keywords: Bosnia-Herzegovina & Mostar (geography)
  • Physical Characteristics:
  • Technical Details: Format: Hi-8 Number of items/reels/tapes: 2 Footage: 59 mins and 8 mins
  • HD Media:
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    UNT 933

  • Related IWM Collections Objects:
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