In
a cruel twist of fate, Oggi Tomić’s Sarajevo orphanage may very well have been
shelled by his Bosnian Serb relatives he had never had a chance to meet. It
could have been an ironic tragedy worthy of Sophocles, but somehow Tomić
survived the Siege. In collaboration with fellow filmmaker Chris Leslie, Tomić
documents his bittersweet Bosnian homecoming and a somewhat reluctant journey
into Srpska in search of his roots in Finding
Family (trailer
here), which screens during the 2014 Bosnian-Herzegovinian Film Festival in New York.
Born
with excess cranial flood, Tomić is arguably lucky to be alive. However, the
infant came through emergency surgery with no long term damage, except for a
bit of scar tissue on his scalp. The question of how much his birth-mother knew
of his prognosis before abandoning him will understandably nag at the British
based filmmaker.
Despite
his Serbian name, Tomić always identified as Bosnian. After all, he was just as
vulnerable to Serb shells as his fellow orphans. Without question, enduring the
Siege instilled profound feelings of Bosnian solidarity in Tomić, undiminished by
his new life in the United Kingdom. As a
result, he has serious misgivings about meeting his blood relatives, well
beyond mere abandonment issues.
Given
its structure (including an opening teaser), the hour-long Finding Family was clearly produced with the European television
market in mind. Obviously Leslie & Tomić’s film addresses deep issues of
identity and family, but its emotional impact is considerable nonetheless. Tomić
is remarkably honest and direct expressing his lingering pain and resentments to
Leslie and his camera. He also vividly recreates a sense of what it was like to
come of age during a time of war.
