Film and Discussion - Esma's Secret: Grbavica
15. November 2007
The film is a thoughtful exploration of a mother-daughter relationship in post-war Sarajevo. Nerina Muzurovic from Chicago will introduce the film and outline the history of the Yugoslavian Civil War. The film will be followed by an open discussion moderated by Konstanz scholar Gaby Babic. This screening of “Esma’s Secret” is part of the side-program of the conference “Civil Wars: Violence. Trauma. Intervention” hosted by the Center of Excellence at the Konstanz Inselhotel on November 29-30.
The film focuses on the story of Sara, a young girl growing up in post-war Sarajevo. Her single mother Esma works hard to provide her with a normal life. An impending school trip disturbs the delicate balance between them - Esma lacks the necessary funds and the school trip raises difficult questions about the identity of Sara’s father. Was he really a war hero who died on the frontline? Sara demands to finally know the truth…
In “Esma’s Secret” director Jasmila Zbanic touches on a taboo subject: the systematic mass rape of Bosnian women and the traumatic effect of these war crimes. Banc’s haunting film explores the fate of a woman raped during the Bosnian war by accompanying her everyday life and her struggle to cope with the past. While Esma tries desperately to bury her memories and becomes a prisoner to her own lies, her daughter’s search for the truth takes on existential dimensions.
The film's central theme is universal – it is the search for identity. In “Esma’s Secret” Zbanic subtly explores the painful lack of any significant attempt to come to terms with the traumatic events of the Bosnian War. The discussion with Nerina Muzurovic and Gaby Babic following the screening will examine this topic and debate the psychological effects of the war and its representation in “Esma’s Secret”. During her work on the commemoration of genocide and “ethnic cleansing” Nerina Muzurovic spoke with numerous Bosnian refugees about their traumatic experiences. Gaby Babic conducts research on the visual routinization of cultural trauma in Serbia at the Center of Excellence “Cultural Foundations of Integration”.
On 28 November at 7:00 pm Scala Cinema and the Center of Excellence will screen the third film in this series on the topic of civil war - the documentary film “Promises”.
Click here for more information on the conference and the cultural program