Arijana Saračević Helać | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1964 (age 60–61) |
| Citizenship | Yugoslavia (until 1992) Bosnia and Herzegovina (from 1992) |
| Alma mater | University of Sarajevo |
| Occupation(s) | Journalist Filmmaker |
| Awards | Courage in Journalism Award (1993) |
Arijana Saračević Helać (born 1964) is a Bosnian journalist and documentary filmmaker known for her work withRadio and Television of Bosnia and Herzegovina. For her journalism during theBosnian War, Saračević Helać received theInternational Women's Media Foundation'sCourage in Journalism Award, alongside Mirsada Šakić Hatibović.
Saračević Helać was born inJajce in what was then theSocialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina,Yugoslavia. She studied journalism at theFaculty of Political Sciences in Sarajevo at theUniversity of Sarajevo.[1] In 1987, she started working for Radio and Television of Bosnia and Herzegovina.[2]
In 1993, Saračević Helać was named as one of the laureates of theInternational Women's Media Foundation's Courage in Journalism Award for her reporting fromSarajevo during theBosnian War, including from the streets, the front line, hospitals, and the sites of various attacks; she filed over 2000 reports during the course of the war. She won alongside fellow Bosnian journalist Mirsada Šakić Hatibović.[2]
Following the end of the conflict, Saračević Helać went on to report on theKosovo War. She also supportedUNESCO to assistant independent television stations inBosnia and Herzegovina.[2]
Saračević Helać began working for the documentary service ofFederalna televizija, a television channel operated by Radio-Television of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Documentaries she produced includedPolitička ubojstva (lit. 'political murders');Djeca rata (lit. 'children of war'), about the Bosnian politician and businessmanFikret Abdić; and films about the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina, including aboutJosip Broz Tito,Branko Mikulić,Emerik Blum, theDayton Agreement, theLeague of Communists of Yugoslavia,Nijaz Duraković andAlija Isaković.[3]
Saračević Helać produced the documentaryZnam šta je ofsajd (lit. 'I know what offside is') alongside the Independent Association of Journalists of Vojvodina and the Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina Journalists. The film became one of the most-watched documentaries in Bosnia and Herzegovina.[4] Saračević Helać also produced the filmBosna (lit. 'Bosnia') about the first European basketball championship held in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was screened at three international film festivals.[3]
Saračević Helać's filmPucajte, ja i sad držim čas (lit. 'shoot, I'm still holding the class') was screened at theSarajevo Film Festival in 2024 and was nominated for the Gordana Suša Award.[5]