Movie: Grbavica: The Land of My Dreams (2006)

(Countries: Bosnia, Croatia, Austria, Germany; Language: Bosnian)

This film depicts the degree to which life in contemporary Sarajevo is affected by Yugoslav war of the 1990s. The story takes its cue from the systematic rapes of 20,000 women by Serb soldiers.

It’s about a single mother who lives with 12-year old girl in relative poverty. The girl is known to be the daughter of a Muslim martyr of war but unlike other children of martyrs, she doesn’t know the circumstances of her father’s death. Other children think her claim is dubious when she fails to produce the death certificate of her father that is required for gratis school trip. She will have to pay for the trip if she can’t prove that her father was a martyr.

The girl demands proof from her mother but in vain. When things heat up between the mother and the girl, it is revealed that she was actually conceived after her mother was raped by Serb soldiers at a camp. This brutal realisation that she is actually daughter of a rapist Serb serves to bring her closer to her mother with whom she hitherto had strained relationship.

It’s a moving tale of love, war and fate. Plot and acting get 3/5. IMDb Link

Movie: No Man’s Land (2001)

(Bosnian: Ničija zemlja); Countries: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia, Italy, France, Belgium, Britain; Languages: Bosnian, English, French, German)

It’s a war drama by Bosnian director Danis Tanovic set in Bosnia during the war of the 90s. Three soldiers, two Bosnian and other Serb are trapped in no man’s land while neither side will allow the other to come and rescue them. Their problem is compounded as one of the injured Bosnian soldier is lying on a mine which will explode if he moves.

Since either side is unable or not allowed to come to rescue those soldiers, they call on the UN peacekeepers to step in. The UN commander refuses to lend help since the UN forces are there to keep peace and it’s beyond their mandate to get involved in these sort of situations. One officer, however, bypasses his superior and decides to step in. The operation ends in a horrible way.

It’s not full of action and doesn’t have an intense plot as in other war dramas. Nonetheless, it’s one of the most excellent war dramas I have seen. At times ridiculous and at times tragic, this film highlights just how the ultimate victim of war is humanity itself. My rating is 4/5. Here’s the IMDb Link.