As If I Am Not There (2010)

A harsh dose of cinematic realism about a harsh time-the Bosnian War of the 1990s-Juanita Wilson's drama is taken from true stories revealed during the International Criminal Tribunal in ... See full summary »

Director:

Juanita Wilson

Stars:

Natasa Petrovic, Fedja Stukan, Jelena Jovanova

5 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Natasa Petrovic	...	Samira
Fedja Stukan	...	The Captain
Jelena Jovanova	...	Jasmina
Sanja Buric	...	The Nurse
Irina Apelgren	...	Alisa
Zvezda Angelovska	...	Halida (as Zvezdana Angelovska)
Nikolina Kujaca	...	Mirsada
Stellan Skarsgård	...	Doctor
Angela Stojanovska	...	Samira's Sister
Zoran Trajkovski	...	Samira's Father
Sofija Kunovska	...	Samira's Mother
Elpida Pakovska	...	Village Neighbour
Ivo Stojanovski	...	Village Neighbour's Husband
Filip Pesov	...	School Boy
Jana Mircevska	...	School Girl

Storyline

A harsh dose of cinematic realism about a harsh time-the Bosnian War of the 1990s-Juanita Wilson's drama is taken from true stories revealed during the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague. Samira is a modern schoolteacher in Sarajevo who takes a job in a small country village just as the war is beginning to ramp up. When Serbian soldiers overrun the village, shoot the men and keep the women as laborers (the older ones) and sex objects (the younger ones), Samira is subjected to the basest form of treatment imaginable.

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Plot Keywords:

punctuation in title | apostrophe in title

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Ireland

Language:

Bosnian

Release Date:

4 March 2011 (Ireland)

Filming Locations:

Macedonia

Company Credits

Production Co:

Euroimages Fund of the Council of Europe, Film i Väst, Irish Film Board

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ireland's official submission to the Best Foreign Language Film category of the 84th Academy Awards 2012.

User Reviews

Tragic and haunting

A poignant haunting look at the Bosnian War and the atrocities committed. The film focuses on a young Bosniak girl who winds up at a Serbian War Camp. From here a story of the worst of humanity and the strength that lies within people to endure unspeakable hardship unfolds. The actress who plays the lead character Samira gives one of the best performances I have ever seen on film and says more with her eyes than other actress can say with pages of dialogue. The director does a phenomenal job of capturing the horror or war and more importantly does not use sensationalist tactics to solicit emotional responses from the audience. The story itself and the performances from the actors are powerful enough where they can stand alone.

A film that will likely fly under the radar - but an important one to see; as it acknowledges one of the saddest moments in recent history.