True/False Premieres Documentary On Sarajevo’s Outdated Olympic Luge Monitor

On Mount Trebević above Sarajevo, a cement monolith snakes by way of wooded terrain – an elevated channel emblazoned with colourful graffiti. Locals and vacationers get pleasure from strolling alongside the pocked pathway, however a pleasing stroll doesn’t come with out danger – at given moments, people sling down it at speeds of greater than 80 miles an hour.

That is the luge and bobsleigh run constructed over 4 a long time in the past for the Winter Olympics, which have been held in Sarajevo in 1984, a second of glory for Yugoslavia earlier than the nation cut up aside and descended into civil struggle. In the present day, regardless of its crumbling situation, the concrete trough nonetheless attracts younger Bosnian athletes chasing Olympic desires.

Three of these younger hopefuls – Mirza Nikolajev, Zlatan Jakić, and Hamza Pleho – and their coach, Senad Omanović, are featured in The Monitor, which held its world premiere Friday on the True/False Movie Fest in Columbia, MO. The younger males not solely face all of the bodily calls for of competing at an elite degree, however fixed impediments that must do with lack of funding and disintegrating infrastructure.

Introducing The Monitor, True/False Inventive Director Chloé Trayner famous, “This movie fully stole the hearts of our programming staff as quickly as we watched it.” The documentary appeared to land equally with the viewers on the Missouri Theater; when the lights got here up, they gave it a standing ovation.

The documentary challenge happened organically, Canadian director Ryan Sidhoo defined throughout a Q&A following the premiere. “I began touring within the area and simply the heat of the individuals, the acceptance, I type of felt prefer it was a second residence,” he mentioned. “I used to be like, wow, I like this place. So, I simply stored going again.”

On one go to to Sarajevo, he took a hike alongside the previous luge run. “They have been prepping it, and so they have been telling me to get off the observe,” he recalled. “I used to be confused over why persons are telling me to get off. After which they defined to me they have been utilizing it, they have been coaching on it, after which instantly the sunshine went on in my head and the story simply sort caught with me. [I] simply type of nurtured the connection with the coach [Senad]. And eight years later, we’re right here.”

Sidhoo was joined on the Q&A by protagonist Mirza Nikolajev, who traveled from Bosnia-Herzegovina for the competition.

“It’s superb actually watching the previous eight years of your life and simply, it’s a bit powerful for me to speak for the time being,” Nikolajev shared. “Very emotional seeing all the things that’s occurred, how we developed throughout our rising up.”

The observe isn’t operational in winter. In summer season, lugers can go down it on wheeled sleds, however that’s simpler mentioned than achieved. The movie exhibits coach Senad repairing harm to the concrete, patching cracks and sweeping particles from the course – pinecones and pine needles from the encompassing timber that might show an incredible hazard for a sled zooming at a breakneck tempo. As Senad notes within the movie, he has coached quite a few Olympic groups for Bosnia-Herzegovina however by no means earned a penny for his efforts as a result of there’s no funding accessible.

Recognizing the monetary hardship confronted by coach and athletes within the movie, the competition chosen The Monitor because the recipient of its 2025 True Life Fund. A QR code was displayed on display through the Q&A, permitting viewers members to contribute; as Trayner, Sidhoo, and Nikolajev spoke on stage the donations started to mount, rapidly reaching greater than $10,000.

Requested how he would put the funds to make use of, Nikolajev mentioned, “It’s going to assist me quite a bit for the upcoming Olympic season. It’s going to assist me focus extra on my trainings on the observe itself, on the sleds. I wouldn’t must work this summer season, principally. I’d be all into luge after which finally get on my second Olympics, qualify for it.”

As The Monitor exhibits, Nikolajev certified for the Beijing Winter Video games in 2022, and served as co-flag bearer for Bosnia-Herzegovina on the opening ceremonies. In an opportunity second, he occurred to wink on the digital camera through the televised ceremony, which created one thing of a sensation with Chinese language viewers.

“With this charming wink, BiH Olympic athlete Mirza Nikolajev drew the eye of thousands and thousands of Chinese language individuals,” China’s Embassy in Bosnia-Herzegovina famous on the time, “and [he] climbed up the record of scorching matters on the favored [social] community Weibo.”

That spontaneous meme offers a lighthearted second within the documentary. However shadowing the movie is the reminiscence of struggle, which killed an estimated 100,000 individuals in Bosnia between 1992 and 1995. A lot of the useless have been Bosnian Muslims, some slaughtered in horrifying acts of ethnic cleaning dedicated by Serbian-aligned forces. Within the midst of preventing, Sarajevo’s luge observe grew to become a defensive barrier, with town’s protectors poking holes by way of the concrete for gunsights.

“While you make a movie, you need it to have a bigger message,” Sidhoo commented. “I believe the post-war historical past of Bosnia continues to be — it’s ignored however extremely related. I believe that for those who take a look at what’s happening on the planet at the moment, you’ll be able to type of look to Bosnia and take a look at Mirza and Zlatan and Hamza, and these children work together with the struggle each single day, regardless that the struggle completed 30 years in the past… You simply must be in Sarajevo and see the impact of the intense ‘othering’ to possibly make that time or weave that in about these lingering penalties of battle.”

The 2026 Winter Olympic Video games are set to happen in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, 42 years after these storied Video games of Sarajevo.

On the Q&A, Nikolajev praised director Ryan Sidhoo. Referring to the filming course of, he mentioned Sidhoo “made it really feel like he wasn’t even there recording it. I’m very glad that he did that, so now we will cherish the reminiscence. We will have it all the time, I can present it to my pals and my future children, probably. It’s such an incredible factor to have.”