30 Years of the University Teleinformatics Center UTIC | Documentary Film "Internet.ba" - Telling How the Internet Broke Through the Siege of Sarajevo
At the "Obala" Open Stage of the Academy of Performing Arts of the University of Sarajevo, the documentary film "Internet.ba" was shown to mark the 30th anniversary of the University Teleinformatics Center UTIC. The film was directed by Ms. Tina Kalinić, senior assistant at the Department of Directing, and produced by the University of Sarajevo and Associate Prof. Amira Kudumović from the Department of Production at the Academy of Performing Arts. The film narrates the historic moment of connecting Bosnia and Herzegovina to the internet network and opening it to the world.
This is a story of knowledge, resistance, innovation, and courage — a technological and cultural story in which the then students and assistants of the University of Sarajevo, Azur Ajanović, Haris Hadžialić, Hazim Kazić, Mladen Rifelj, and Brano Vujčić, established a connection with Jacques Schuurman from the Free University of Amsterdam during the war-torn Sarajevo, and through an extremely complex process, gained support from universities across Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Ministry of Defense of the RBiH to register the Bosnian domain .ba, thereby placing Bosnia and Herzegovina on the digital map of the world. The film "Internet.ba" is yet another testimony to resistance and knowledge, and to people who defied dark siege years by believing in progress and building the future of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Today, the University Teleinformatics Center UTIC is the leading institution of the University of Sarajevo in the fields of IT and communications, as well as in implementing practical IT solutions for the needs of the academic community and beyond.
The film "Internet.ba" was created on the initiative of the UNSA Rector, Prof. Dr. Tarik Zaimović, driven by the need to honor those who contributed to the development of digital connectivity in Bosnia and Herzegovina through knowledge, expertise, and vision in a dignified and documentary manner.
