Quo Vadis, Aida? By Bosnian director Jasmila Zbanic, is the cry of a woman, trapped in a men's war game. July 1995: Aida works as a translator for the United Nations in the Bosnian city of Srebrenica. When the Serbian army comes to power, her family is one of the thousands of citizens who seek protection in the UN camp. Negotiations after negotiations, Aida translates critical information with fatal consequences. The war ends, the UN withdraws, so where do you go - quo vadis, Aida?
Zbanic's depiction of Europe's latest war resembles a modern holocaust just too much. This is the uncomfortable truth, that only 25 years ago, thousands of hungry refugees were sitting in their own excrements begging the UN for shelter. However, the screen becomes hard to look away from as Zbanic's screenplay flips the United Nations the bird for their empty promise of bombing the Serbs if they attack.
Nevertheless, the film finds love and hope in the title's question Quo Vadis, Aida? (Where are you going?) when Aida reveals, that she will return to school, which is where she is the happiest. Brief flashbacks of a dance night, the romance of a medical worker with a Bosnian civilian and the unexpected birth of a child keep the audience warm during the cold, monotonous nights at the UN shelter. It is courage, love and resilience that nourish Jasna Duricic performance of Aida to survive this war. Not knowing where you will be at the end of it, Quo Vadis, Aida? Is a slow ride into the abyss of Europe's past that's only for strong nerves.
Zbanic's depiction of Europe's latest war resembles a modern holocaust just too much. This is the uncomfortable truth, that only 25 years ago, thousands of hungry refugees were sitting in their own excrements begging the UN for shelter. However, the screen becomes hard to look away from as Zbanic's screenplay flips the United Nations the bird for their empty promise of bombing the Serbs if they attack.
Nevertheless, the film finds love and hope in the title's question Quo Vadis, Aida? (Where are you going?) when Aida reveals, that she will return to school, which is where she is the happiest. Brief flashbacks of a dance night, the romance of a medical worker with a Bosnian civilian and the unexpected birth of a child keep the audience warm during the cold, monotonous nights at the UN shelter. It is courage, love and resilience that nourish Jasna Duricic performance of Aida to survive this war. Not knowing where you will be at the end of it, Quo Vadis, Aida? Is a slow ride into the abyss of Europe's past that's only for strong nerves.