In Cinemas: 15th December 2006
www.esmassecret.com
Awards and Nominations
Berlin International Film Festival:
Winner - Golden Berlin Bear
Winner - Peace Film Award
Winner - Prize of the Ecumenical Jury
European Film Awards:
Nominated - European Film Award- Best Actress
Nominated - European Film Award- Best Film
Sundance Film Festival:
Nominated - Grand Jury Prize
Director's Statment
I am fascinated by everyday life, but compared to war, it can seem ordinary, non-dramatic, evenbanal. Yet when the surface of this everyday life is scratched, the whole power of human emotions -- past, present and future -- starts to leak out. GRBAVICA is first of all a story about LOVE. About love that is not pure, because it has been mixed with hate, disgust, trauma, despair. It's also about VICTIMS who, though they did not com-mit any crime, they are still not entirely innocent in relation to future generations. GRBAVICA isalso about TRUTH, a cosmic power necessary to progress, and very much needed by society inBosnia and Herzegovina who must strive to reach maturity
Jasmila Zbanic screenwriter and director
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Reviews:
Winner of the Golden Bear award at the Berlin Film Festival, this is a riveting account of family strife in post-civil war Sarajevo. Esma (Mirjana Karanovic) lives with her troubled 12-year-old daughter Sara (Luna Mijovic). Their relationship becomes fractured when Sara wants Esma to use a certificate proving that her father was a war hero to get a discount on a school trip. After a fairly inauspicious opening establishing the tension between the characters, the movie moves up several notches when the Balkan conflict is discussed and the story moves into centres aimed at helping people cope with the traumas of war. Kaleem Aftab **** -Hotdog
-The Economist
