Mira Furlan

"I look at the stars. It's a clear night and the Milky Way seems so near. That's where I'll be going soon. "We're all star stuff', I suddenly remember Delenn's line from Joe's script. Not a bad prospect. I am not afraid. In the meantime, let me close my eyes and sense the beauty around me. And take that breath under the dark sky full of stars. Breathe in. Breathe out. That's all."

"I was one of those who really believed in the so-called brotherhood and unity, but not only of our peoples, but of all the people of the world. And I still believe that this is the only option for the survival of the human race. Everything else leads to violence, suffering and destruction. I don't understand nationalism, I don't vibrate on that string."

"Rulers try to keep their subjects in the belief that they have no choice but to do so. And what if they do? What if it is still possible to make a choice in a situation in which there is supposedly no choice? This very idea is dangerous to the system and therefore subversive. But this very thought is the path to freedom."

"I can't agree to war in my mind as the only solution, I can't force myself to hate, I can't believe that weapons, killing, revenge, hatred, that the accumulation of evil will ever be able to solve anything... The punishment prepared for me by my city, my only city, and my theater, i.e. I don't think I deserved the only theater that I considered my own, the punishment they prepared for me, because I did what I think should always be done: believing in people and in our profession, which must unite people, not separate them... Regardless of whether we live in one, five or fifty countries, let us not forget about people, about each one individually, regardless of which side of this Wall of ours the person in question finds himself on... I am sending this letter into the void, into the darkness, not knowing who will read it and how, or in what way it can be abused. It will probably serve as a dam for the eternally hungry propaganda beast. Maybe someone will read it with a pure heart. I will be grateful to such a man."

"It's hard to start over, it's hard to make cuts, it's hard to lose friends and tear the fabric of your life. Emigration makes one feel as if one has been launched into an empty space and is now floating aimlessly on it. And on the other hand, it is, of course, a big, interesting adventure, trying out oneself in another language, in another space, gathering experiences that are not given to others, it is in a way conquering freedom. The freedom we strive for, but which is infinitely difficult and tiring."

"In my humble opinion, countries – nations are a completely obsolete category. One has only to look at the rivers of refugees from Syria and Africa and the armed army at the border crossings of various countries such as Hungary to understand that this world order is a source of evil and horror for the majority of the population of our planet. After all these years, I came to the conclusion that betrayal was somehow easy, too easy for our people. At all levels, in all categories, from public to private. It was and still is so easy to betray a friend, an idea, an attitude. And finally, himself. Betrayals are cowardly because they are most often motivated by opportunism or, even worse, fear. Cowardice and betrayal go hand in hand."

"In this, but not only in this region, sexism in all its forms was the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat. Everything, but all the pores of life were (and still are) deeply intertwined with sexism. My pre-war "case" itself is part of it. In the 1990s, women were (and remain) the most grateful targets of the newly awakened patriots. Maybe because no one, but no one at all, stood behind them, nor does anyone stand. No games, no back-to-back. Women were the easiest targets."

"The concept of Yugo-nostalgia has worn out and worn out so much that it no longer has any meaning for me. I'm not nostalgic for my own youth either, in fact, it seems to me that I'm calmer and happier now than in my youth, so how could I be for a country that everyone gave up so easily that it seems as if it didn't exist, but we only dreamed of it. Disappointment? It depends on what one expects. In expecting people to show courage, you have no choice but to be disappointed. Maybe this courage should not be expected, maybe nothing should be expected. Intensive rehabilitation of the Ustasha (Croatian, fascist and ultranationalist organization active, as one organization, between 1929 and 1945) has been on the scene since 1991. None of the politicians seriously distanced themselves from such a policy, no one had the courage to do so, neither the right nor those who would consider themselves left-wing. Over the years, the position has been cemented that true Croatian patriotism not only tolerates the Ustasha, but that the Ustasha is actually a constituent part of it. This is a slap in the face to all Croatian anti-fascists, such as my dad, for example."

"People have the need to unite in camps, in groups, whether by religious, national, racial or class affiliation. When one looks from a slightly further, slightly higher perspective, one cannot help but notice that all these groupings are artificially fabricated, supposedly in the name of unity, but in fact in the name of division. And, as we may remember, the ancient Romans wisely said: "Divide and rule". While people are divided and exterminate each other because of this or that sentence in the Qur'an or the Bible, some others steal and steal everything they can get their hands on. I think that this fact, at least when it comes to "our" (mine certainly wasn't!) war in the nineties, is slowly reaching the brain of the so-called common man. But now it's too late: everything has already been sold out and resold and looted and devastated."

"As for the "recognition" of the current situation in America based on the experience of the war in the Balkans, this has been happening for years. We recognize the same racism, the same nationalism, the same hatreds, the same obsession with "belonging", etc., etc. One of the main symbols of Trump's rule is the symbol of the wall. How many symbolic, physical and mental walls were built during the war in the former Yugoslavia? There is no end to them. I've always had more sympathy for bridges than for walls."