Blum: Masters of Their Own Destiny

NOTE: Due to unforeseen personal circumstances, Jasmila Žbanić will unfortunately not be able to join us for the event.

Through the life of Emerik Blum, a post-WW2 Yugoslav socialist and one of the founders of modern Sarajevo, this film recalls a time when workers shaped their own futures and believed progress belonged to everyone.

Emerik Blum was the visionary engineer and one of the driving forces that transformed Sarajevo into a modern city fit to host the 1984 Winter Olympics. He established Energoinvest, the biggest export company in Yugoslavia, which at its peak had over forty thousand employees worldwide. 

Academy Award nominee Jasmila Žbanić (Quo Vadis, Aida?) portrays Energoinvest as a unique social experiment in addition to a massive business enterprise. Employees took part in decision-making through Yugoslavia’s system of worker self-management, lived in apartments constructed by the company and took vacations in the workers’ apartments on the Adriatic coast. Blum emerges as a pragmatic innovator and paternal figure of the workers, negotiating and balancing the world divided between capitalism and socialism, thus creating a unique “Third Way”. 

Through the interviews with people who worked with him, the film honours his enormous accomplishments while also reflecting on Sarajevo’s terrible decline during the Yugoslav Wars in the 1990s, reminding viewers of a pivotal period in Bosnian history that is both inspirational and irretrievable.

In collaboration with the Eastern Neighbours Film Festival, De Balie welcomes writer Johan de Boose to the Netherlands for a conversation about the film, its often overlooked themes, and their broader implications beyond Bosnia and Herzegovina or Yugoslavia.

Johan de Boose (b. 1962, Ghent) is a Belgian writer, poet, and essayist. He holds a doctorate in Slavic studies and has worked in experimental theatre, radio, and literary journalism. Since 2003, he focuses on fiction, poetry, and literary non-fiction, often exploring Eastern Europe. His notable works include De Grensganger, Bloedgetuigen, and Het Vloekhout. His latest book, Joegoslavië. Kroniek van zes of zeven landen (2025), is a comprehensive exploration of the former Yugoslavia, blending travelogue, history, and reflection on the fragile art of coexistence.