Bosnia in 1977. The sweet-natured Halima is unable to bare her husband Salko a child. Despite the family pressure to find another wife, Salko remains true to Halima, whom he adores. When, due to ethnically-motivated tensions, Halima's niece Safija is unable to give her newborn son a home, Halima and Salko offer to adopt young Mirza.
Twenty-three years on: Halima has lost her husband and son to war and is in search of their mortal remains. She refuses however to undergo DNA blood testing for fear of revealing that Mirza wasn't her biological son. On realising that the sole way of finding her loved ones lies with her niece, Halima sets off in search of Safija, whom she hasn't seen for more than twenty years and now lives with the erstwhile enemy. Shortly after locating Safija a series of uncontrollable and tragic events commences, which take an unexpected twist.
HALIMIN PUT is a tragic and yet inspiring tale which, by means of one individual's fate, illuminates the terrible scope of the Bosnian War. Engagingly and poetically narrated with such emotion that the viewer is able to both relate to and suffer with the film's heroine. A screen portrayal of the melancholy of Bosnian sevdah.
35mm | Farbe / colour
Feđa Isović
Slobodan Trninic
Damir Kljucaric, Miljenko Pusic
Ivo Husnjak
Mate Matisic
Alma Prica, Olga Pakalović, Mijo Jurišić Mustafa Nadarević, Izudin Bajrović, Miraj Grbić Daria Lorenci, Dejan Aćimović, Emina Muftić
F.I.S.T, Rixfilm, West End Productions
Studio Arkadena Zagreb
Oporoveèka 12
10 000 Zagreb
Croatia
Tel: +385.98. 275 158
trn@post.htnet.hr
Arsen Anton Ostojić - born 1965 in Split. Studied at both the Zagreb Academy of Dramatic Art and New York University. His début feature film TA DIVNA SPLITSKA NOĆ (2004) was nominated for the European Film Academy Discovery Award. Teaches film production at academies in Zagreb, New York and Salzburg.
DECORATIONS (1988, doc, short)
THE BIRD LOVER (1993, short)
LIFE DRAWING (2001, short)
TA DIVNA SPLITSKA NOĆ (2004, Cottbus 2004)
NICIJI SIN (2008, Cottbus 2008)