How do you tell a story about a historical massacre? From a narrow or wide prism? Who do you choose to lead the story? How do you combine the documented facts with a fictional plot? In her fifth full-length film, the excellent Bosnian director Ismila Zevenich found clever answers to these questions, creating an intense and chilling film that emotionally engages us in the fate of its protagonists and leaves us breathless in the face of the horror depicted in it.
In early 1993, the fighting in the Bosnian war reached its peak. In April 1993, the town of Srebrenica, home to tens of thousands of refugees from the surrounding villages, was declared a safe zone by the Security Council, which sent a UN force composed of Dutch soldiers there. “Entered the ‘safe zone.’
The film focuses on the character of Aida, a local schoolteacher who serves as an interpreter between UN soldiers and Bosnians and Serbs, some of whom were her students. The functioning, of the commanders of the UN force. Her husband Nihad and her eldest son Amadija have been left out of the fence, and she is mobilizing all her resourcefulness in an attempt to get them entry permits.
The hard pictures of 1993. “Where are you going, Aida” (Photo: PR)
But it is not certain that it is old at all, because Mladic’s men demand to enter the base, on the pretext that they are looking for fighters with weapons among the Bosnians who have found refuge there. The Dutch soldiers, who feel abandoned on the ground, do not want to get involved and allow the pentagonal Serbs to do as they please. Later, as the situation worsens, UN Force Commander Thomas Cramans (Johan Haldenberg) will lock himself in his room and ask them to leave him alone. , Based on evidence and interviews Zevnich conducted with people who were there.
Jasna Juricic makes a strong appearance in the role of Aida, who runs between the Dutch officials and her family, constantly thinking about how to save them. Her living husband, Boris Izkovic, also excels in the role of the formidable Mladic. You may know the Dutch Haldenberg from “The Zookeeper’s Wife,” where he played the man in the title. And there are other figures that catch our attention among the thousands of statisticians. It is an international production, involving no less than 12 production companies from ten European countries (the Bosnian government has politicians who still deny the Srebrenica massacre, and the country has no real film industry).
“Where are you going, Aida” (Photo: PR)
The film is superbly staged, and every moment it is charged with tension – the intimate scenes among the family members, like these masses. Zevenich’s previous films (“Garbavica”) also dealt with various aspects of the war in Bosnia, and she arrived at this film ready in every way, after brushing up on her considerable directing talent. After his Venice Film Festival premiere, “Where Are You Going, Aida?” Has garnered mass awards, and was even nominated for an Oscar in the International Film category in 2021.
Part of the film’s power is in the non-judgmental representation of the helplessness of UN forces in the face of Mladic’s bullying. These days, when Putin invades Ukraine, while the West stutters, “Where are you going, Aida?”
A powerful emotional echo. “Where are you going, Aida” (Photo: PR)
In its final minutes the film returns to Srebrenica a few years after the massacre, with people who actively participated in it sitting next to those who survived it, as if everything had been forgotten. These quiet and even hilarious scenes contribute to the emotional echo it leaves behind. It is a film about national and human trauma and over the course of 100 minutes we experience it powerfully.
★★★★ ✯ 4.5 stars
Quo Vadis, Aida? Directed by: Ismila Zevenich. With Jasna Juricic. Europe 2020, 102 min