Dino Mujanović

This film explores the complexity of war and its devastating consequences. While the storyline may not be entirely unfamiliar, I have not encountered another quite like it. Having personally witnessed the horrors of the wars in the former Yugoslavia, the film evoked memories of my own experiences—both during the conflict and afterwards, when I was a refugee—along with the humiliation and prejudice I faced. Yet, this is not merely a film about bias. It delves into the lasting impact of human behaviour, the burden of the past, and the actions of those who endured and survived—how they did so, you must discover for yourself by watching the film. It presents also the lives of individuals and families who may not have been directly involved in the fighting, nor have been in war zones of former Yugoslavia, but who nonetheless bore the heavy consequences of war. Set in Pula, Croatia, in 1995, the film is anchored by extraordinary performances from Ermin Bravo and Maja Izetbegović in the roles of Mahir and Vahida. Their portrayals alone are reason enough to see this powerful and thought-provoking work. Excellent work done by Nika Grbelja, who portrays Una – the young Croatian schoolgirl who forges a pivotal bond with Mahir, a refugee residing in a collective shelter, in the coastal town, burdened with untold stories that he conceals and/or simply cannot speak about them even to his therapist.