Esma's secret - Grbavica

Movie
German title	Esma's secret - Grbavica
Original title	Grbavica
Country of production	Austria , Bosnia and Herzegovina , Germany , Croatia
original language	Bosnian
Publishing year	2006
length	90 minutes
Age rating	JMK 12
Rod
Director	Jasmila Žbanić
script	Jasmila Žbanić ; Barbara Albert
production	Tanja Ačimović ( Coop 99 ) ; Barbara Albert ; Damir Ibrahimović ; Bruno Wagner
music	Enes Zlatar
camera	Christine A. Maier
cut	Niki Mossböck
occupation
	Mirjana Karanović : Esma; Luna Mijović : Sara; Leon Lučev : Pelda; Andiswa Kedama : Amanda; Kenan Čatić : Samir; Jasna Ornela Berry : Sabina; Dejan Ačimović : Cenga; Bogdan Diklić : Saran; Emir Hadžihafizbegović : Puška;

Esma's Secret - Grbavica is a film directed by Jasmila Žbanić . It is a co-production between Austria ( coop99 ) , Bosnia and Herzegovina (Deblokada) , Germany (noirfilm) , Croatia ( Jadran Film ) with the support of arte and ZDF . The cinema release in Austria was on March 3, 2006, in Germany on July 6, 2006.

action

Esma lives with her 12-year-old daughter Sara in the Grbavica district of Sarajevo . Sara's father died in the Bosnian war . Esma works as a waitress in a nightclub because there is not enough government support. In order not to have to pay full price for Sara's upcoming school trip, it must be proven that her father was a war hero. But Esma cannot find the evidence and seems to be hiding something from her daughter.

Together with classmate Samir, who also lost his father in the war, Sara begins to investigate and coax her mother's secrets from the time of the war. Eventually she learns the shocking truth: Esma was among the countless victims of systematic rape during the war, and Sara is the fruit of such an act of violence.

Esma, who is just beginning to reciprocate the advances of the bouncer Pelda, has kept this secret from her daughter all these years, torn between the terrible memory of the rape and the love for her child. Both must now learn to live with the truth.

background

Esma's Secret - Grbavica deals with the systematic sexual abuse of female civilians by soldiers and officers referred to as Chetniks in the film during the Bosnian War .

Director Jasmila Žbanić received the Golden Bear for best film on February 18, 2006 at the Berlinale . In her acceptance speech, she recalled that some of those responsible - especially Radovan Karadžić and Ratko Mladić - were still at large at the time and lived somewhere in Europe, even though they were being sought internationally.

Interesting

The film has no classic score . The soundtrack consists of sung songs, hits and pop music from the radio or television. A band plays Balkan disco in the nightclub. The score gives the story a documentary character that strongly shapes the atmosphere of the film.

Reviews

“The sensitively staged film, brilliantly played in the main roles, conjures up the power of love, through which hatred and violence can be overcome and a reconciliation between enemies of yore seems possible. In doing so, he focuses on the stony path of finding the truth, through which the principle of hope first gets a chance. "

- Lexicon of International Films

“With this carefully narrated drama, Jasmila Zbanic makes an impressive directorial debut. In simple but compelling scenes, she tells of life in Sarajevo after the war, the wounds of which will not be so easy to close in a decade and which has an impact on the generation that were not even born during the fighting. "

- Kino.de

“The success of“ Grbavica ”obviously depends on things that have nothing to do with mere ability. For example, the closeness of the film to the people among whom Jasmila Zbanic grew up herself. In the simplicity and straightforwardness of the story, in the renunciation of symbolism and boasting. And in the look that accompanies the event, a look that does not sort people into good and bad, but lets them see their contradictions, the cracks and fissures in their biography that they hide behind the facade of normality. "

- Andreas Kilb: FAZ

“So Zbanic prefers to wear it thick instead of relying on the power of subtle allusions. 'Grbavica' is indeed a decent film, but it is also predictable and abundantly clear, it follows an overly obvious dramaturgical trail and thus distrusts the viewer's knowledge. The award that the jury, chaired by Charlotte Ramplings, presented to him on Saturday evening, flutters around him like a dress that is too big. "

- Cristina Nord: TAZ

“For the young state of Bosnia-Herzegovina, international success is also a piece of identity formation, gained through a film that can withstand comparisons with the neo-realistic new beginning of European cinema in Italy after 1945. The children who go to school in Sarajevo today encounter a truth through 'Esma's Secret' that does not necessarily affect their personal existence, but shapes a whole generation. "

- Bert Rebhandl: Spiegel.de