Sarajevo film museum proves popular with Chinese tourists

A museum based on the cult movie Valter (Walter) Defends Sarajevo has become a favorite meeting point and educational space for Chinese tourists visiting Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, according to the museum's director, Jasmin Durakovic.

Since its opening on April 6 this year, the museum, which commemorates the cinematic story of Vladimir Peric Valter, a famous member of the Movement of Resistance and anti-fascist figure from World War II, has welcomed a total of 15,000 visitors, a third of whom were Chinese tourists.

Durakovic explains that around 5,000 Chinese visited the museum during the first four months of its "test phase".

He says it is the first museum in the Balkan region dedicated to the cult movie, directed by one of Bosnia and Herzegovina's greatest filmmakers, Hajrudin Siba Krvavac.

"Valter Defends Sarajevo is our country's most famous export to China, this is for sure," Durakovic says, adding that he was fascinated, when he visited China in May, by how much Chinese know about Sarajevo, the movie and the interest it has generated among the Chinese public.

"There are many middle-aged visitors from China who visit the museum, but there is also a growing number of young Chinese who are visiting with their families and children," Durakovic adds, recalling one particular tour group that arrived at the museum earlier this month where all the visitors were under 30 years old.