The Partisan Necropolis: Film Screening and Q&A

"The Partisan Necropolis" is a 72-minute film directed and produced by Scottish-based photographer and filmmaker Chris Leslie in collaboration with the Sarajevo-based Post-Conflict Research Center (PCRC).

The film tells the story of Mostar’s decaying Partisan Memorial Cemetery, a once renowned National Monument and cemetery honouring young WWII partisan fighters, which now bears the scars of vandalism, including swastikas, far‑right graffiti, and the 2022 destruction of nearly 700 commemorative stone flowers. While most of the town dismiss it as a relic of communism and an enemy monument, a small group of determined relatives embark on a poignant quest to preserve their loved ones’ memories amid the ruins.

The film captures the emotional journeys of these families, and their poignant struggle against historical erasure. Through archival footage, original architectural sketches, and interviews with historians, architects, and cultural heritage experts, "The Partisan Necropolis" confronts the rise of neo‑fascist sentiment in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the broader European struggle to protect anti‑fascist memory. Through their eyes, we witness the personal and collective cost of forgetting.

The film screening will be followed by a Q&A with the producer and director, Chris Leslie, Dr Neven Andjelic, and Velma Saric, Founder and Director of the Post-Conflict Research Center.

This is an in-person event open to staff, students, and external attendees.

Chris Leslie is an award-winning photographer, filmmaker and director based in Glasgow, Scotland. His practice is primarily concerned with documenting processes of urban transformation and the lived experiences of marginalised individuals, groups, and communities. Over the course of his career, Leslie has produced extensive visual documentation across Eastern Europe, the Balkans, Africa, and Asia, in addition to his sustained engagement with the city of Glasgow. His photographic essays and written work have appeared in The Guardian, where he continues to examine the evolving social and architectural landscapes of contemporary urban life. His long-term body of work, A Balkan Journey, constitutes a poignant exploration of post-conflict recovery and reconstruction in the former Yugoslavia.

Spanning twenty-five years, the project foregrounds the enduring psychological and physical legacies of war while examining the role of memory, resilience, and collective identity in processes of reconciliation and rebuilding. Leslie’s debut feature-length documentary, Finding Family (2014), was the recipient of two Scottish BAFTAs in the New Talent category and two Golden Apple Awards at the BHFF NYC Festival. Leslie’s most recent film, The (2025) investigates the contested heritage of the Partisan Memorial Cemetery in Mostar, tracing the site’s political, cultural, and symbolic significance within contemporary debates on memory, preservation, and identity in post-conflict societies.

Velma Šarić is an award-winning human rights defender, journalist and producer with over 20 years of experience in transitional justice and reconciliation in the Western Balkans. She is the Founder and President of the Post-Conflict Research Center and Editor-in-Chief of Balkan Diskurs. A Columbia University and Robert Bosch Fellow, Velma completed the Alliance for Historical Dialogue and Accountability Program.

She holds an MA in Political Science from the University of Sarajevo and has worked with organizations including the University of Sarajevo's Institute for Research of Crimes Against Humanity, Institute for War and Peace Reporting, Atlantic Initiative, Vital Voices, and the WARM Foundation. Velma is also the Leonard and Sophie Davis Genocide Prevention Fellow at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Simon-Skjodt Center.

Dr Neven Andjelic is teaching international relations and human rights at Regent’s University London. He is also Visiting Professor at the University of Bologna. He served on the Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities - Council of Europe from 2014 to 2018. Neven was a Visiting Senior Fellow at LSE and a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at the University of California at Berkeley. Besides his academic activities, he was and remained an activist for human rights issues in his country of origin, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Dr Andjelic has also had a career in journalism, working for CNN, BBC, ITN, Channel 4 in the UK and all the leading media in Bosnia-Herzegovina. He writes for academic journals and publications and has published a book titled Bosnia-Herzegovina: The End of a Legacy (2003). His latest book in English, “Covid-19, State-Power and Society in Europe: Focus on Western Balkans” has been published in 2022 by Springer.

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