As If I Am Not There (Serbian: Као да ме нема, Kao da me nema) is a 2010 Irish-Serbian drama film directed by Juanita Wilson. The film is set in the Balkans and is shot in the Serbo-Croatian language.[1] It was selected as the Irish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 84th Academy Awards,[1][2][3] but did not make the final shortlist.[4]
| As If I Am Not There | |
|---|---|
 Irish film poster | |
| Directed by | Juanita Wilson |
| Written by | Eliseo Altunaga |
| Based on | As If I Am Not There by Slavenka Drakulić |
| Produced by | James Flynn Nathalie Lichtenthaeler Karen Richards |
| Starring | Stellan Skarsgård Nataša Petrović |
| Cinematography | Tim Fleming |
| Edited by | Nathan Nugent |
| Music by | Kiril Dzajkovski |
Production companies | Euroimages Fund of the Council of Europe Film i Väst Octagon Films Screen Ireland Sektor Film Skopje W2 Filmproduktion und Vertriebs WMG Film Wide Eye Films |
| Distributed by | Corinth Films |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 109 minutes |
| Countries | Ireland Serbia |
| Language | Serbo-Croatian |
The film follows a young teacher who travels to a remote village. After the village is attacked, she is imprisoned and raped, together with the women of village. It is based on Slavenka Drakulić's 1999 novel of the same name that deals with war rape in the Bosnian War.[5]
Plot
editSet during the Bosnian War, the movie follows the experiences of a young female teacher from Sarajevo who travels to a remote village to teach. Soon after arriving, the village is attacked by a group of soldiers. The men are killed, the women separated from the children, and placed in a makeshift brothel. There, the women are repeatedly raped and beaten.
The film is adapted from a novel by Croatian journalist Slavenka Drakulic based on testimony of women taken prisoner during the Bosnian War.
Cast
edit- Nataša Petrović as Samira
- Fedja Stukan as The Captain
- Jelena Jovanova as Jasmina
- Miraj Grbić as Commander
- Jasna Diklić
- Zvezda Angelovska
- Nikolina Kujaca
- Sanja Burić
- Katina Ivanova
- Jana Stojanovska
- Nino Levi
- Irina Apelgren as Alisa
- Jana Mircevska
- Stellan Skarsgård
Reception
editThe film received positive reviews. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 85% based on 13 reviews, with an average rating of 6.4/10.[6]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b Kemp, Stuart (21 September 2011). "Irish Film & TV Academy Picks Juanita Wilson's 'As If I Am Not There' For Oscar Race". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
- ^ "New Zealand submits Samoan film to Oscars". BBC News. 14 October 2011. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
- ^ "63 Countries Vie for 2011 Foreign Language Film Oscar". oscars.org. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
- ^ "9 Foreign Language Films Vie for Oscar". Retrieved 19 January 2012.
- ^ "As If I Am Not There". screendaily.com. 13 September 2010. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
- ^ "As If I Am Not There (2010)". 26 July 2010. Retrieved 2 December 2020.