CS Film Club II

Aida barters for her family to be let into an under-resourced U.N. sanctuary even as Serbian general Ratko Mladic’s forces have overtaken the town, armed with a propaganda videographer and murderous forces. Somehow her attempts to provide for her family’s safety become even more critical within the U.N. sanctuary as she realizes what history knows – the U.N. forces there to protect the Bosniaks do not have any force behind their proclamations.

The sense of pushing against the inevitable is broken only by highly personal views into the characters – the director has some stunning shots over the crowd outside the sanctuary, but also directly into the faces of Aida, her family, countless refugees, and even the Serbian forces. Each time your mind is racing – what will Aida do next; is this person I’m seeing in a flashback an eventual victim or a murderer? The movie is unsparing towards the Serbian perpetrators, but empathetic at the U.N. grunts if also ultimately critical of the organization’s failures. The emotions shown are raw but complex, and the coda at the end deeply affected me.

Other than what I’ve described above, Zbanic has a flair for a good shot. I really hope more of her future work is distributed internationally.

Can’t recommend this more highly.

I'm in.

And I watched my movie last Thursday night, but then I was out of town for most of the weekend.  I'll get the review up soon.