Section: Feature Film Competition

djeca – children of sarajevo

djeca – children of sarajevo

Aida Begić
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany, France, Turkey, 2012, 90 Min
Pyramide Distribution

Rahima works in glamorous restaurant in Sarajevo. The work is demanding and when she arrives home from work she has to care for her adolescent fourteen-year-old brother Nedim. He spends most of his time in front of the computer and rarely attends school. These two siblings live alone, having lost their parents during the Bosnian War. When Nedim is picked on by a newly-rich minister's son, he resolves to fight back. As a consequence Rahima is obliged to make good the damage; a broken iPhone, which would account for three months of the twenty-three-year old's earnings.

With her second feature film the director creates anything other than a flattering image of life in Sarajevo. The consequences of war are conspicuous as society threatens to fragment into winners and losers. Rahima is a Muslim and wears a headscarf; her brother claims that he's picked upon at school for this reason. Rahima fights however; against the the minister, against the welfare worker and for her brother, who stands on the edge of criminality. Ultimately the siblings have at least grown closer; a glimmer of hope on Christmas Day.

In an almost documentary-like fashion the director works with the images generated by an omnipresent hand-held camera, operated by her husband Erol Zubčević. The film observes, carefully lays a finger on wounds of past and present. In the process a number of broad hints are given and it is left to the viewer to fill in the gaps of this concise tale.

Filmformat
35mm | Farbe / colour
Drehbuch
Aida Begić
Kamera
Erol Zubčević
Ton
Miroslav Babić
Schnitt
Miralem Zubčević
Ausstattung
Sanda Popovac
Darsteller
Marija Pikić, Ismir Gagula, Nicola Duričko, Staša Dukić, Velibor Topić
Produzent
Aida Begić
Produktion
Film House Sarajevo
Co-Produktion
Rohfilm, Les Films de L'Apres Midi, Kaplan Film
Kontakt
Pyramide Distribution
Eric Lagesse
5, rue du Chevalier de Saint-George
75008 Paris
France
Tel: +33.1.42 96.01 01
Fax: +33.1.40 20.02 21
elagesse@pyramidefilms.com
www.pyramidefilms.com
Aida Begić

Aida Begić - born 1976 in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. Studied directing at the Sarajevo Academy of Performing Arts. Her début feature film SNIJEG premièred at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival and has been the recipient of numerous awards. Founded the independent production company Film House in 2009.

Movies
PRVO SMRTNO ISKUSTVO (2001, short)
SJEVER JE POLUDIO (2003, short)
SNIJEG (2008, Cottbus 2008)
OTEL(O) (2010, short)