Pulac, near Travnik in Central Bosnia - scenes from village life _ 1990 RJC film12

These are recordings of village life in and around Pulac, near Travnik in Central Bosnia, first visited in 1990. A second visit was made in 1998 after the Bosnian War of 1992-5, during which the village suffered badly from the impact of shells fired from Mount Vlasic on the north side of the Lasva river.

The main purpose of the visits was to make a record of Refik Delic, the last potter working in the twin villages of Pulac and Bijelo Bucje where, until the middle of the 20th century, several dozen potters worked. Pottery-making is the subject of a separate film - https://youtu.be/uZk1nyC_arE - so only brief segments of Refik's work in 1990 are included here, but rather more from 1998 when he was filmed in conversation with some of his neighbours.

In addition to filming pottery-making the opportunity was also taken to film other aspects of village life which, along with pottery firing, predominantly take place in the open spaces of the village. Men and boys are shown using horses to pull carts and herd cattle, boys loiter in the hope of something to entertain them, some girls crush and press apples while older men and women get on with farm work, chores and child-minding.

In 1998 the economic situation was more perilous due to the effects of war which are also apparent on the main Lasva Valley, although Travnik itself, including its Süleymaniye or 'painted' mosque (Sulejmanija/Šarena džamija) largely escaped physical damage. In Pulac, many of the houses and the mosque minaret bore signs of damage, some of it patched-up with hasty repairs, but community spirit remained strong. A group of local men is seen engaged in community action ('narodna aksija') to lay a new main drain and repair the road surface in the centre of the village, and a small vertically-axled watermill is set over a stream between Pulac and Bijelo Bucje. These elements of a timeless Balkan community are set in a verdant, bucolic landscape of sublime beauty, picket-fenced fields and plum orchards dotted with hay stacks close to the village and patches of woodland on higher ground, all set against a backdrop of mountains, including the distant, latently threatening Vlasic.

Видео Pulac, near Travnik in Central Bosnia - scenes from village life _ 1990 RJC film12 канала Richard Carlton