Where are you going Aida? Aida (Jasna Đuričić) is a former teacher, co-opted into translating for the UN in Srebrenica during the 90s Bosnian war.

She is at the epicentre of the July 1995 invasion by Ratko Mladić (played here by Boris Isakovic) that resulted in a genocide of Bosnian Muslim men that he would eventually be held accountable for as a war criminal. We see this huge, incomprehensible tragedy played out in the small story of Aida’s family.

Tens of thousands of Bosnian Muslims fled to the Dutch-run UN compound after UN promises of retaliation if Mladić breached the Srebrenica safe zone turned out to be meaningless. “We don’t want to upset the Serbs.“

Ill-equipped to handle so many refugees, commander Colonel Karremans (Johan Heldenbergh) agrees to negotiate, even letting armed Serbian soldiers into the compound. When Mladić promises that all “innocent people” will be safely escorted, we seem to be the only ones realising that innocent is a subjective term.

Aida’s desperation is palpable, and she epitomises the many mothers turned ferocious as their children are ripped from them. The insipid bureaucracy of the UN can’t help but bring to mind the many stories of people having to risk their own lives to shelter Jewish neighbours and colleagues before and during WWII. It’s a tough watch but a part of history that we should remember.

Director Jasmila Žbanić “anchors the events to a female perspective, with Jasna Đuričić delivering a phenomenal central performance. Quo Vadis, Aida? is a moving, compassionate portrayal of a woman torn between duty and family – as well as a blistering indictment of bureaucratic bungling – that will leave few viewers unaffected.”

http://www.miff.org.au