a film by Jasmila Žbanić
A moving story about life in contemporary Sarajevo and of a mother's struggle to provide for her rebellious teenage daughter in the wake of the civil war. Esma wants to grant her daughter Sara's wish to participate in a school trip. A certificate proving her father is a war martyr would allow her a discount. But Esma continues to avoid Sara's requests for the certificate. She would rather find a way to pay full price for the trip. She believes not telling the truth about Sara's father is a way to protect both her and her daughter.
Single mother Esma lives with her twelve-year-old daughter Sara in Sarajevo's Grbavica neighbourhood, where life is still being reconstructed after the 1990s Yugoslav wars. Unable to make ends meet with the meagre government aid she receives, Esma takes a job as a cocktail waitress in a nightclub. Working all night is difficult for Esma physically and it also forces her to reluctantly spend less time with her daughter. Still haunted by violent events in her past, Esma attends group therapy sessions at the local Women's Centre. In addition to relying on her best friend Sabina, Esma also finds a kindred spirit in Pelda, a compassionate male co-worker from the nightclub.
Feisty tomboy Sara begins to put soccer aside as she develops a close friendship with classmate Samir. The two sensitive young teenagers feel a strong bond because both lost their fathers in the war. But Samir is surprised to hear Sara doesn't know the details of her father's noble death. Sara's father becomes an issue when she requires the certificate proving he died a shaheed, a war martyr, so that she can receive a discount for an upcoming school trip. Esma claims acquiring the certificate is difficult since his body has yet to be found. Meanwhile, Esma searches desperately to borrow money to pay for Sara's trip.
Confused, Sara becomes violently upset when some classmates tease her for not being on the list of martyrs' children. Realising her mother has paid full price for the school trip, Sara aggressively demands the truth. Esma breaks down and brutally explains how the girl was conceived through rape in a POW camp. As painful as their confrontation is, it is Esma's first real step towards overcoming her deep trauma. Despite Sara's hurt, there is still an opening for a renewed relationship between mother and daughter.
Focusing upon the female experience of post-conflict 'ordinary' life, writer/director Jasmila Žbanić describes her award-winning debut feature as being primarily a story about love. About love that is not pure, because it has been mixed with hate, disgust, trauma, despair. It's also about victims who, though they did not commit any crime, are still not entirely innocent in relation to future generations. Grbavica is also about truth, a cosmic power necessary to progress, and very much needed by society in Bosnia and Herzegovina who must strive to reach maturity.
A universal tale of pain and struggle, Grbavica is a heartbreaking story about the violence against women in the recent Balkan War. It explores in a very genuine and delicate way how these victims of war crimes will still be living in a war of their own emotions for the rest of their lives. But it is also a story about hope, as they attempt to pick up the pieces of their shattered psyches and somehow move on with their lives.
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