Poster for "The Last Cowboy"

This is my poster design for the documentary film "The Last Cowboy”.

"The Last Cowboy is documentary film about the eternal dreamer from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hari Džekson. The American wild west was out of his reach so he created his own right at home and in the sixties officially changed his name from Aljuš Musli to Hari Džekson. This is a film about a man who created an illusory reality from his dreams of being a heroic cowboy who would save the world, in which he himself lived. He was a fan of westerns and he filmed a couple of them, in which good always triumphs over bad. When the world he dreamed about collapsed due to the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, so did his dreams collapse and he along with them. His film about cowboys who saved and at the same time decorated the world in the middle of Balkan, remained unfinished. But some of his friends tried to finish the open ending he had left.”

"Few years ago in Ljubljana I met Mirko Ilić, graphic designer who was born in Bijeljina in Bosnia and Herzegovina and who lives and works in New York City today. I interviewed him for RTV Slovenia. He told me about the man who filmed westerns by the river Drina, who knew everything about western films, who officially changed his name from Aljuš Musli to Hari Dzekson, whom the inhabitants of Bijeljina considered a kind of court jester… I didn't believe him. The story sounded unbelievable. It sounded too Hollywood. I thought, of course, Mirko comes from America. The next day I verified the story online and I saw movie material. It was a script that wrote itself. In other words, Mirko Ilić offered me a script that just needed to be written. Thus was born a film about a cowboy who lived his dreams and dreamed his whole life.” 

–Tadej Čater, documentary film director

You can read more about Hari Džekson here and here.

 

Photo of city of Bijeljina is by Ajdin Kamber.

 

 

 

Hari Džekson in the Wild West

Some time ago I bought this black and white photo of Hari Džekson (Harry Jackson) on the Internet. It is one of the photos from his films, which he is displaying in the window of his photography studio.

Aljuš Musli (1944–1999), was a young Muslim photographer from my hometown of Bijeljina (population 10,000-15,000 at that time), who was a passionate Western films lover, so much that starting in the seventies he changed his name to Hari Džekson and devoted all the time and money he had to shooting Western movies, with 8mm camera. He and his friends, fellow "actors" built sets of Western towns from scratch. Local peasants were supplying them with horses and local Roma (Gypsies) acted as Indians. At that time he became a cult personality. 

Unfortunately, by now he is mostly forgotten.

Since Hari never had the chance to come to the US, let alone visit the "Wild West", I decided to take him for the ride.

And here is Hari at the canyon.

 

Hari in the Cameron Trading Post in the Navajo Nation.

 

 

Hari in Navajo country.

 

Hari in front of the Blauert Buildings.

 

Hari in Red Rock Country.

 

"Usamljen kauboj sam ja, daleko od doma svog…" –Talicni Tom

"I'm a poor lonesome cowboy, and a long way from home…" –Lucky Luke

Hari Džekson in New York

I recently brought back from Serbia two black and white photographs of Hari Džekson (Harry Jackson), which he was displaying in the window of his photography studio.

Aljuš Musli (1944–1999), a young Muslim photographer from my hometown of Bijeljina
(population 10,000-15,000 at that time), who was a passionate Western films lover, so much that starting in the seventies he changed his name to Hari Džekson and devoted all the time and
money he had to shooting Western movies, with 8mm camera. He and his friends, fellow "actors" built sets of Western towns from scratch. Local peasants were supplying them with horses and
local Roms (Gypsies) acted as Indians. At that time he became a cult personality.
Unfortunately, by now he is mostly forgotten.

Soon I will be taking his photographs to the West of USA, he deserved to finally make that trip.

Unfortunately, all links and stories I have about Hari are in Bosnian language.
More about Hari Džekson here.
___

I par isjecaka iz clanka “Vecernjih novosti” (06.04.2010):
*
Sem Harija, Nastić, Muratović i Ristić se sećaju i drugara Ota i Žaka, koji su na snimanju
`popili mnogo batina`, jer se to radilo odistinski, nije se moglo odglumiti.
- Mašinovođu potplatimo sa litrom rakije i dve porcije ćevapa, da malo uspori voz, kako bismo snimili scenu pljačke voza. Nije nama ništa posebno trebalo. Kamenolom imaš u Teočaku, Drina ti je kao Rio Grande, u Jablanuši je ona livada bila jalova, ništa se na njoj nije sejalo, bila je bolja nego prava prerija. U mahali nađemo nekoliko Roma, samo im stavimo ratničke boje, pa kao pravi Indijanci.
I seljaci su bili dobri, davali nam svoju stoku kad god je trebalo da snimimo krdo goveda, milo im da se njihova goveda pojave u filmu - priča Juso Muratović, čiji je čitav život obeležen filmom.
*
HARI Džekson je u to vreme bio veoma popularan, pa su nas zvali da snimamo reklame. Vršačka pivara nam je 1987. ponudila da snimimo reklamu za sok. Bili su slogani `Hari Džekson pije sok, alkoholu kaže jok` i `Žedan sam ko pas, daj mi ananas`. Ja sam dobio honorar od 37.000 dinara.
Ali, sve je pojela inflacija, takvo je vreme bilo - kaže Đorđe Nastić.