BHFFNYC ’16: Tigers

In Ukraine, opponents of forced Russification organized a boycott of Nestlé when it was reported the Swiss company black-balled a Ukrainian-speaking presenter from a cooking show its Nesquik brand sponsored. Syed Aamir Raza, a former Nestlé salesman in Pakistan would recommend they start with the baby formula. Oscar winning Bosnian filmmaker Danis Tanović tells his whistleblower story Tigers (trailer here), which screened during the 2016 Bosnian-Herzegovinian Film Festival in New York.

Arguably, Tigers is a bit of a ringer for the Bosnian-Herzegovinian festival, but Tanović (an Oscar winner for No Man’s Land in 2001) is arguably the most prominent director in Bosnia-Herzegovina and perhaps even the entire region of Southeast Europe. He has always been a supporter of the New York festival, which is quite cool. Any festival that has a chance to program his latest film should take advantage of the opportunity. In any event, it screened last night, so here we are.

Ayan is the thinly fictionalized analog of Raza. After scuffling as a rep for a Pakistani generic drug company, Ayan thinks he has finally made it when he talks his way into a job with Nestlé. Make that Lasta. In a twist of the meta framing device, the filmmakers developing a movie treatment of Ayan’s life quickly decide they had better use a fictional company name if they want to get the project green-lighted.

Of course, Ayan proceeds to sell the heck out of Lasta’s baby formula. However, when Dr. Faiz, one of his first Lasta conquests, returns from a course of advanced study in Karachi, he brings first-hand experience linking Lasta formula with fatal diarrhea and dehydration. To be scrupulously honest, the formula is technically safe in and of itself. However, it is a different story when the formula is mixed with impure water, which is highly likely to happen in infrastructure-challenged provincial Pakistan. Needless to say, Ayan’s supervisors are not exactly proactive when it comes to explaining the risk. Yet, much to Dr. Faiz’s surprise, Ayan decides to act on his information, seeking allies in the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European media.

Tigers has all the grit of Tanović’s previous films, but it has the flavor of South Asian/Indian Parallel cinema, holding the distinction of being Bollywood idol Emran Hashmi’s first non-Bollywood role. He is indeed quite intense and un-movie star-like as Ayan. His character is certainly a whistle-blower, but he is not a saint, which leads to some very realistic complications.

Former model Geetanjali Thapa continues to specialize in issue-oriented indie dramas (like I.D. and the even more depressing Liar’s Dice) as his ever faithful and inspiring wife Zainab. Frankly, it is rather strange to find Danny Huston not playing a villain, but he supplies periodic energy boosts as Alex, the prospective producer. It is similarly mind-blowing to see former “Bond Girl” Maryam d’Abo (the cellist in The Living Daylights) playing a sanctimonious NGO bureaucrat, but she is indeed appropriately scoldy as Maggi from WHO.

Perhaps it is not so surprising Tanović, a Bosnian Muslim, apparently collaborated so easily with the largely Indian cast and crew, notably including director Anurag Kashyap (Gangs of Wasseypur, Bombay Velvet) in a producing role. It is still a bit of an outlier for BHFFNYC, but the concern for ethical dilemmas falls squarely in Tanović’s wheelhouse. Recommended for the auteur’s admirers and patrons of Indian parallel cinema, Tigers is sure to have more festival life ahead of it, following its screening at this year’s Bosnian-Herzegovinian Film Festival in New York.

BHFFNYC ’16: Our Everyday Life

There are things you never get accustomed to. Sasha Susic is a Balkan War veteran still struggling with relatively mild PTSD. He has witnessed death, but he is still not prepared when potentially fatal illness strikes within his nuclear family. His father is even less so. However, everyone is used to carrying on in the face of whatever chance and circumstance throws their way in Ines Tanović’s Our Everyday Life (trailer here), which screens during the 2016 Bosnian-Herzegovinian Film Festival in New York.

Apparently, Susic got a close look at the dark side of humanity, but a marriage to a foreign journalist saved him and his mates from the worst of it. He now lives with his sixty-something parents in Sarajevo, mostly just brooding around the flat. His father Muhamed makes no secret of his contempt for Sasha’s lack of ambition or his frustration with the Bohemian lifestyle of his very pregnant sister, Senada, who is currently living abroad with her Slovenian lover. Their mother Marija tries to play peacemaker, but a not-so cold war still rages between father and son. Nevertheless, they will come together when they have to, because they are not tacky people.

You could think of OEL as something very much like a Bosnian Ozu film, which is very high praise indeed. Some might say very little happens in it, but frankly we see all the stuff of life therein. It is also rather fascinating to watch how Tanović’s screenplay addresses the Balkan War and its ramifications. At most, they are secondary issues, albeit important ones. Frankly, it is not so very different than the treatment you might find of 9/11 in major American films that cannot pretend it didn’t happen, but are circumspect in their references. The War is still a bit more prominent in Tanović’s mix, but it is put on equal footing with economic challenges and generational conflicts.

Emir Hadzihafizbegovic and Uliks Fehmiu are terrific as the mildly semi-estranged father and son. Whether it is a scene of spiteful bickering or tender rapprochement, there is not a false moment shared between them. Vedrana Seksan is massively charismatic in her brief but pivotal scenes as Senada, while Jasna Ornela Beri is all very well and good as Marija, but her sainted mother material feels predictably familiar.

Frankly, it was not crazy strategy on the part of Bosnia and Herzegovina choosing OEL as the nation’s official foreign language Oscar submission. It is a very fine film that will impress viewers who take the time to engage with it. However, it is so understated it was unable to cut through the pomp and noise of awards season. It is nice to be able to catch up with it now. Highly recommended for those who appreciate smart, realistic drama, Our Everyday Life screens this Friday (5/27) at the SVA Theatre, as part of this year’s BHNYC.

BHFFNYC ’16: One Day in Sarajevo

At least in one respect, life in Sarajevo has changed for the better since the 100^th anniversary of Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s assassination in 2014. After three years in mothballs, the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina has re-opened, in part thanks to a donation from the U.S. Embassy. The Archduke came to Sarajevo to preside over an opening ceremony at the museum, but as you might have heard, he never made it. Jasmila Žbanić samples the wide spectrum of Bosnian opinion on Franz Ferdinand and the trigger-man Gavrilo Princip, while documenting the commemorative festivities through crowd-sourced footage in the docu-essay One Day in Sarajevo, which screens during the eagerly anticipated 2016 Bosnian-Herzegovinian Film Festival in New York.

To some Sarajevans, Princip was a righteous anti-Imperialist resistance fighter, while others are understandably put off by his Greater Serbian ideology. The latter often recognize the Archduke’s sadly unrealized policies for decentralizing and liberalizing the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Frankly, it is hard to understand the affection for Princip, given how his attack directly led to WWI, which in turn sowed the seeds of WWII, which subsequently led into the Cold War, and eventually the Balkan War, but maybe you have to give him some credit for punching above his weight class.

Naturally, there are a number of festivities underway that Žbanić frames to maximize the irony. However, she also captures the “you can’t go home again” emotions of a Canadian émigré’s return visit with his preteen daughters. Perhaps the most poignant moments are the nearly empty museum, where unpaid staffers still show up for work daily to keep up basic maintenance and prevent theft. Although Žbanić’s cameras document it as its loneliest and shabbiest, the museum is still a lovely building with great potential (so it is nice to know it is now serving its proper function).

In between the crowd scenes, cab rides, and general life happening, Žbanić inter-splices scenes from various cinematic portrayals of Franz Ferdinand’s fateful motorcade. Spoiler alert: it always ends badly for the Archduke. Sometimes One Day in Sarajevo feels like Žbanić is just hitting the random button, but there are enough interesting moments to make it worthwhile, especially when seen with a knowing audience, like Bosnian-Herzegovinian Festival’s patrons. Recommended for those in the mood for some provocative sight-seeing, One Day in Sarajevo screens this Thursday (5/26) at the SVA Theatre, as part of this year’s BHNYC. (The brutally powerful No One’s Son is even more forcefully recommended when it also screens earlier in the evening.)