China helps preserve spirit of Valter in Sarajevo

"We've got some of the props and cameras that were used, and a model of the train that is blown up in the film, made by the same man who made it for the movie. This is our history, so it's our cultural mission to keep it alive but you have to off er more than just objects. Nowadays people don't just want to look, they like to interact somehow."

The fact a party of 250 school children were booked in the next day to make the two-hour journey from the city of Mostar to visit the museum shows that nearly five decades on, Valter's spirit remains strong. And the even more exciting news for fans, particularly in China, is the possibility that Valter could soon live again.

"We are in advanced negotiations with a Chinese company for remakes of Valter and another film by the same director that is also popular in China, The Bridge, and in May I am going to China for more talks," said Durakovic.

"The Bridge they want to make in the Balkans, in our language, with our extras, and Valter is still in negotiation," he said. "There was talk of trying to transplant the film to be set in China, but how can you make Valter without Sarajevo?"