Jasna Zalica Movies
- 2007
Summer in the Golden Valley director Srdan Vuletic takes a turn towards more commercial fare with this urban fairy tale about a forty-something Sarajevo taxi driver named Fudo (Sasa Petrovic) who decides to take control of his own destiny. Fudo doesn't earn much simply by shuffling the citizens of Sarajevo from place to place, so he supplements his income by offering tips to the local criminal syndicate and turning a blind eye to their nefarious dealings. One day, after offering a particularly bad bit of advice to a violent gangster, Fudo is badly beaten. When Fudo's wife Azra (Daria Lorenco) discovers what has happened, she decides to take the couple's infant son and move out. Now determined to win his wife back and restore peace in the home, Fudo decides to go straight. But cleaning up his act isn't going to be easy, because after borrowing enough cash from black market dealer Sejo (Emir Hadzihafizbegovic) to purchase a van and then refusing to aid him in any underhanded dealings, the only person willing to cut him any slack is the sympathetic Azra. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sasa Petrovic, Daria Lorenci, (more)
A woman sees her own traumatic past reflected in the actions of her teenage daughter in this drama from first-time writer and director Jasmila Zbanic. Esma (Mirjana Karanovic) is a single mother trying to raise her teenage daughter, Sara (Luna Mijovic), in Sarajevo in the wake of war. While Esma works as a barmaid at a nightclub run by Saran (Bogdan Diklic), a man on the wrong side of the law, she has trouble making ends meet, and receives occasional benefits payments from a support group for women who have been affected by the war. Esma has little interest in talking about the loss of her husband, whom she claims was a hero fighting for Bosnia, and can become hyper-emotional with little provocation. As Pelda (Leon Lucev), one of Esma's co-workers at the club, attempts to interest her in romance, Esma notices that Sara has caught the eye of Samir (Kenan Catic), a rebellious young man who is one of her classmates. As Esma tries to discourage Sara from becoming involved with Samir, she finds fate has forced her to tell her daughter the truth about her father. Grbavica received its world premiere at the 2006 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mirjana Karanovic, Luna Mijovic, (more)
Bosnian filmmaker Pjer Zalica makes his feature debut as a writer/director with the dark comedy Gori Vatra (Fuse). It's post-war peacetime during the late '90s in the Bosnian town of Tesanj and the townsfolk are busy preparing for a visit from President Bill Clinton. The town has become overrun with corruption due to the years of war, but they work together over a few days to pretend that everything looks fine from the outside. Crooked cop Mugdim (Izudin Bajrovic) and gangster Velija (Senad Basic) keep the town running with an organized crime scheme; Velija has to pretend that his brothel is really a cultural center. Meanwhile, the former police chief, Zaim (Bogdan Diklic), is thinking about kidnapping Clinton in order to get revenge for the probable death of his son during the war. Fuse won the Silver Leopard award at the 2003 Locarno International Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Enis Beslagic, Bogdan Diklic, (more)
