BHFF ’13: Halima’s Path

Supposedly, Tito held Yugoslavia together as one big happy family.  Nonetheless, a late 1970’s episode of ethnic-religious strife eventually causes unimaginable anguish for a Bosnian mother decades later.  Her story, inspired by, but not directly based on a documented historical incident, vividly illustrates the painful legacy of war in Arsen Ostojić’s Halima’s Path (trailer here), which screened last night as part of the narrative feature competition at the 2013 Bosnian-Herzegovinian Film Festival in New York.

Having lost her husband Salko and son Mirza during the war, Halima has been unable to complete the grieving process while their remains are still unaccounted for.  However, a breakthrough appears to have been made.  Her husband has been recovered.  Perhaps her son will be too.  The international team just needs her DNA to match to her son, but she seems strangely reluctant to comply.

Flashing back to 1977, Safija is also in a very difficult position.  She lives in a Muslim village and is pregnant with the child of Slavomir, a Christian boy from the nearest Serb village.  Her father does not take the news well, beating her severely.  After Slavomir violently intervenes, he is quickly dispatched to Germany, for fear of reprisals.  He will return though.  Indeed, everyone’s lives will become knotted together in Halima’s bitter tale.

Given the wartime issues Path addresses, it is important to note Ostojić is in fact a Croatian filmmaker, working with a Bosnian screenwriter, Fedja Isovic, and a Serbian co-producer.  While most of the cast is either Croatian or Serbian, nearly all had family ties to Bosnia-Herzegovina (including Srpska, where the film has yet to screen, for obvious reasons).  Yes, Isovic’s screenplay unambiguously depicts Bosnian-Serb war crimes.  Yet ironically, during the first act, it is Serbian characters, most notably Slavomir’s father, who exemplify tolerance.  Of course, war changes people and countries, as viewers see in dramatic terms.

It would be a mistake to dismiss Path as just another film about the war and its aftermath.  While it is intimate in its focus, the substantial portion set in 1977 gives it a much wider historical scope.  Nor does it rely on stock characters or simplistic moralizing.  At its moments of reckoning, Path is mostly closely akin to classical tragedy in the Sophoclean tradition.

Perhaps more to the point, it also happens to be an excellent film, anchored by the devastating power of Alma Prica’s honest and dignified lead performance.  It is remarkable, award caliber work.  Sarajevo native Miraj Grbić (recognizable to some as Bogdan in Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol) also gives a finely nuanced performance as Halima’s brother-in-law, a character who suggests it is possible to become more humane with age, even after suffering the loss of loved ones.

Ostojić is best known for the black-and-white neo-noir A Wonderful Night in Split (co-starring Coolio), but with Path he drastically cranks down the auterist impulse, subordinating style to character and narrative.  As a result, Path is visually lean and spare, communicating directly to receptive viewers.  More commercial than film scouts have heretofore recognized, Halima’s Path has picked up numerous audience awards thus far.  Strongly recommended, it was one of the clear highlights of this year’s Bosnian-Herzegovinian Film Festival in New York.

BHFF ’13: Mirza Delibasic—the Legend

Mirza Delibašić vaguely resembled John Stockton and played a similar style of basketball.  He was a lethal outside shooter, who regularly racked-up the assists.  He also wore those old school short shorts.  Delibašić survived the Siege of Sarajevo, but eventually his own body would turn against him.  Miro Benković profiles Bosnia and Herzegovina’s sportsman of the Twentieth Century in the reverential Mirza Delibašić—the Legend (trailer here), which screened last night as part of the documentary competition at the 2013 Bosnian-Herzegovinian Film Festival in New York.

Delibašić won just about every championship he was allowed to compete in.  As part of the Yugoslavian national team, he won a gold medal at the 1980 Olympics.  He also led Bosnian teams to victory in the European and Intercontinental Cups.  Unfortunately, he was a half generation older than players like Dražn Petrović, who were the first to be allowed to sign fat contracts with NBA teams.  Still, he had some success playing for European powerhouse Real Madrid before health problems cut short his career.

It is not hard to understand why Delibašić is a national hero in Bosnia and Herzegovina.  One of the most striking images in Legend is a PSA Delibašić recorded shortly after the Siege in a bombed-out ruin he identifies as the country’s main television studio.  Actually, it would have been nice to have a bit more context on that.  Frankly, Legend is not the most technically polished documentaries and its organization makes my desk look neat as a pin.  Still, how many Mirza Delibašić documentaries do you get a chance to see in New York?

Without question, Benković puts Delibašić on a pedestal, never giving viewers any sense of the man’s private persona.  Nevertheless, Legend clearly struck a nostalgic chord with last night’s audience members, many of whom were humming along to the Delibašić tribute song heard several times during the course of the film.

Obviously, Legend connects with its target market.  It also clearly establishes Delibašić’s international significance as an athlete.  It would be interesting to see what filmmakers like Marius Markevicious (director of The Other Dream Team) or the team behind ESPN’s Once Brothers could make of his story.  Regardless, watching Mirza Delibašić—the Legend at BHFF opens up a real window into recent Bosnian-Herzegovinian experiences.  Definitely a fest deserving wider recognition amongst cineastes, the expanded BHFF continues tomorrow (5/11) with three blocks of programming.

BHFF ’13: Children of Sarajevo

War is not conducive to stronger family values.  It is not great for the economy either.  One Bosnian woman will struggle with both aspects of the war’s trying aftermath in Aida Begić’s Children of Sarajevo (trailer here), which opens the 2013 Bosnian-Herzegovinian Film Festival in New York tonight at the Tribeca Cinemas.

Rahima and her younger brother Nehim are war orphans.  Although they spent the better part of the war in separate orphanages, she has temporarily assumed custody.  However, busy-body social workers constantly torment her with their condescending intrusions.  Working semi-off the books in the kitchen of a mobbed-up restaurant, she is in a difficult position, made more difficult by Nehim’s behavioral issues.  Things only get worse when he gets into a fight with a politician’s son.

Begić clearly establishes exactly how Rahima’s tribulations are fundamental rooted in the recent war, without ever belaboring her points.  Slowly, we learn only Nehim started acting out in response to the mockery he faced at school when she began wearing the headscarf that she adopted as a source of solace. Similarly, we gradually come to understand the severity of Rahima’s post-traumatic stress as she goes about her daily routine.

“Routine” is the correct word.  Children is a quiet, intimately observed drama that fully captures the monotony of Rahima’s struggle.  We revisit the same stretch of her decaying urban environment, time and again.  This might peel off some antsier viewers, but Begić fully captures the realities of life for marginalized survivors like Rahima.

As Rahima, Marija Pikić subtly conveys multitudes of anger and desperation, often relying solely on body language or a fleeting glance.  When late in the third act when Rahima privately removes her headscarf, viewers will realize the truly chameleon-like nature of the striking Pikić’s performance.  Ismar Gagula certainly makes a convincingly petulant teenager, but Nikola Đuričko leaves a more lasting impression as Tarik, Rahima’s would be suitor of ambiguous character.

Periodically, Begić eerily incorporates archival footage of the Siege of Sarajevo, underscoring the lingering influence of the war.  Implying much, she relies on viewers to fill in considerable gaps, yet she methodically leads us into some very dark places.  Although Children unquestionably qualifies as “art cinema,” it showcases some powerful work from Pikić and Begić.  Recommended for adult attention spans, Children of Sarajevo screens as the feature part of Program 1, launching the 2013 BHFF tonight (5/9) in New York.

BHFF ’13: Shorts Sampler

A film ought to be just long enough to tell its story.  While Hollywood has not conditioned audiences to think of short films as star vehicles, the better ones have much more power than a padded feature.  In fact, several big name filmmakers found twenty minutes was about the right length to tell some important stories.  As a result, those who follow the international festival scene will be particularly interested in a number of the short films selected for the 2013 Bosnian Herzegovinian Film Festival in New York.

As an Academy Award winner, Danis Tanović is truly a filmmaker of international stature.  A past alumnus of the festival with Cirkus Columbia, Tanović again revisits the Bosnian War and its painful aftermath.  Amir survived the war, ultimately settling in Scandinavia.  He has returned to Bosnia hoping to recover his parents’ remains, but sadly, reports of their discovery prove false.  Revisiting his former hometown, he comes face to face with the war’s flesh-and-blood ghosts.

Not only is Baggage (trailer here) is more visually dynamic than Cirkus (thanks in part to cinematographer Erol Zubcevic’s stylish work), it taps into far deeper emotions.  Despite his grim subject matter, Tanović portrays both sides of human nature, producing an unusually resonant film (that might just overshadow the feature it precedes).

The man known to friends as Zizi is no celebrity.  He is a good-natured everyman, whose nickname is untranslatable in a family outlet such as this.  Director Nedžad Begović however, also made the international festival rounds with Jasmina, another past BHFF selection.  His simply but aptly titled documentary profile Zizi allows his subject to tell his story, through his own words and anecdotes.  Zizi proudly proclaims his love for Italy, where he was sheltered as a teenager, but he returned to help forge a new Bosnia.  Even more than Baggage, it is a hopeful film—a quality that has sometimes been in short supply at previous festivals, for understandable reasons.

Ante Novaković has certainly worked behind the scenes of dozens of films viewers know quite well.  For The Fix (trailer here) he also recruited a familiar face, Armand Assante, who portrays Vincent, a gangster kingpin nobody wants to have a sit-down with.  Unfortunately, two incompetent thugs will have to have the big talk.  Fix is not a groundbreaker, but it is entertaining.  It is especially nice to see Assante, Mike Hammer in 1982’s I, the Jury, can still bring his tough guy thing.

BHFF has a strong track record for programming short, but this year’s slate is especially notable.  Very highly recommended, Tanović’s Baggage screens this Friday (5/10) with Krivina (a bit of a tougher sell) as part of Block #3.  Upbeat and likable, Zizi screens later that same evening, as part of block #4.  Perhaps the most commercial and accessible selection of any length, The Fix screens this Thursday (5/9) as part of Block #2.  As always, BHFF is always one of the City’s friendliest and most welcoming festivals, showcasing some of the most serious and sensitively rendered films.  Recommended as the cure for a Tribeca hangover, this year’s edition gets underway Thursday at the Tribeca Cinemas.