Exposing the agonies of war and its aftermath, writer/director Jasmila banic’s feature debut is set in Sarajevo’s Grbavica neighborhood, where life is still being rebuilt after the 1990s Balkan wars. When a discount on a school trip is offered only for shaheeds—those whose fathers died as martyrs in the war—single mother Esma has to face her reasons for hiding the identity of her 12-year-old daughter’s father. Grbavica, winner of the Golden Bear at the 2006 Berlin International Film Festival, provides a gripping portrait of the mother-daughter relationship with a nuanced performance by Mirjana Karanovic as Esma. 2006, Croatia, 35mm, in Bosnian with English subtitles, 90 minutes.
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Grbavica: The Land of My Dreams
