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How war helped inspire Yugoslavia鈥檚 first LGBT film

During the Balkans war in the 1990s, an accidental encounter with a trans sex worker in Belgrade inspired Serbian film director Zelimir Zilnik to make a ground-breaking film.

Marble Ass celebrated the lives of the LGBT community in Yugoslavia and made a star out of the trans actor, Merlinka.

Zelimir Zilnik told Witness History how the characters in the film "boosted and encouraged people to come out" in a traditionally conservative country.

He also described the challenges of making the film during a war, when even getting hold of cameras was difficult because of international sanctions.

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Duration:

4 minutes