The romper suit becomes a family memory

Film premiere at the Seehof cinema: The documentary "Babyblu" deals with identity and a culture of remembrance.

A washed-out romper suit with the inscription "Babyblu", an inconspicuous piece of children's clothing. But for the Bosnian Sabanovic family, it is a symbol of their own fateful history and is guarded like a treasure. Dzehva Sabanovic's son wore the romper suit when she left her hometown of Kalesija 30 years ago to flee to Switzerland to live with her husband before the Bosnian War. He then worked in Zug as a seasonal worker.

After all the hardships and finally in safety, it was time for Dzehva Sabanovic to build a new life for himself. She would have liked to return to her homeland, but things turned out differently. Today, she could no longer imagine living anywhere else than in Switzerland. And yet: their roots are and will remain in Bosnia, and their contact with relatives and friends in the Balkans is close. The memories are ultimately "preserved" with dignity: the Museum of War Childhood (Muzej ratnog djetinstva) in Sarajevo includes the romper suit of Dzehva Sabanovic's son in its permanent collection.

The memories remain: Dzehva Sabanovic and son Alen in front of the showcase with the baby suit.          Photo: Screenshot

The very personal story of Dzehva Sabanovic, which she shares with other Bosnians who also fled and now live in the canton of Zug, has been filmed under the title "Babyblu" by Edith Werffeli and Lorenz Bohler. On the one hand, the almost 50-minute documentary sheds light on the fateful and arduous past of the Sabanovics, which symbolically stands for that of many Bosnian refugees. On the other hand, the sensitive film deals with cultural identity, memory, lost family history and reappraisal, and takes up topics such as migration and assimilation.

Premiere at the Seehof cinema in Zug
Babyblu – the last memento" is part of the project "Remember – Remembrance Culture Switzerland" and will be shown to the public for the first time on Saturday, June 11, at 9.15 p.m. in the Zug cinema Seehof. As a prelude to the film premiere, there will be an aperitif with speeches at 8 pm in the Museum Burg Zug. For more information on the project, please refer to  www.projectremember.ch.