Quo Vadis, Aida? The Perfect Depiction of The Genocide in The Balkans

 By José Alberto Hermosillo

“Quo Vadis, Aida?” is a powerful, operatic, and moving work of art. 

Based on real events, the Oscar-nominated film from Bosnia and Herzegovina highlights people’s struggles during the Balkan War in the 1990s.

The historical drama depicts a crucial moment in the life of Aida Selmanagic (Jasna Djuricic), a United Nations translator caught in the middle of an international conflict. Her role enables her to gather information that could alter the fate of thousands. While assisting everyone inside the refugee camp, she will do the impossible to save her husband and two young sons. 

Yet, the ethnic cleansing in Srebrenica, orchestrated by General Ratko Mladić, remains one of the most horrific crimes against humanity at the end of the 20th century. Jasna Djuricic's performance is flawless. Her facial expressions convey the right emotions in every scene she appears in. 

The Serbian invasion of Bosnia occurred in 1995, causing serious repercussions that were difficult for other nations to understand, as they were unaware of the chaos experienced by the people in the newly divided Yugoslavia due to religious and political differences.

General Ratko Mladić (Boris Isakovic) documented his war crimes with a camera person recording every step he took, including the tragic genocide perpetrated by his officers. Moreover, the material validated his criminal actions in an effective system of political propaganda during those chaotic times in the Balkan Peninsula.

The General made a historic pact that seemed more like a “one-sided ultimatum” between his army and the United Nations Blue Helmets. Aida witnesses the event and feels that the General might take extreme actions against innocent locals in the restricted areas protected by the United Nations peace forces.

Writer-director Jasmila Zbanic recalls how the Serbian army mercilessly entered the UN-protected areas. The Blue Helmets forces were unable to protect the civilians, and mass killings and graves continue to be uncovered. She compares the Bosnian experience to the horror witnessed during WWII.

Jasmila Zbanic based part of her story on the book “Under the UN Flag” by Hasan Nuhanovic, who recounted the story of a male translator during the conflict. She adapted the film by featuring an influential female figure as the lead and connecting the dots. Researching for more evidence, Jasmila Zbanic found that genocide is still denied by many, including the European Union.

Jasmila Zbanic, director of “Quo Vadis, Aida?” Photo Jose Alberto Hermosillo

At a virtual screening sponsored by the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles, Jasmila Zbanic passionately stated that her main character is not an ordinary hero because “In the attempt to save her family, Aida loses her humanity, making her life more vulnerable.” With her film, Jasmila hopes to start opening the conversation about the importance of uncovering the truth about the genocide in her homeland—as a way to promote people’s liberation.

The production team visited a refugee camp during the Bosnian War (1992-1995) and hired over 500 extras from various countries. Some of them were actual survivors who shared their stories. For the director, it was crucial to listen to their first-hand experiences and accurately depict their accounts.

To recreate some of the most dramatic scenes, Jasmila Zbanic was inspired by “Schindler’s List.” She expertly used sound effects while maintaining the audience’s perception to effectively communicate the facts about one of the most tragic episodes in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s history. 

Jasmila Zbanic began her career as a documentarian, meticulously searching for hours of video footage, transcripts, and other propaganda materials to accurately recreate the actors’ appearances, mannerisms, and dialogues. 

She learned how to incorporate her real-world findings into all her projects, but in “Quo Vadis, Aida?” she was open to dramatization. Funding comes from the European Film Fund and private backers from nine European countries, including Bosnia-Herzegovina, Austria, Romania, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, France, Turkey, and Norway. 

Since its debut at the Venice Film Festival 2020, “Quo Vadis, Aida?” has been screened at many festivals and in local theaters, giving some viewers the chance to see their story depicted on the big screen. The film was also streamed online in their country, reaching a wider audience because the director saw it as a personal way to fight censorship. She led a wide-ranging awards campaign, earning an Oscar nomination for Best International Feature Film. 

After winning fourteen international awards, the film secured distribution in the United States and is now available to stream on Hulu. “Quo Vadis, Aida?” is not a film about revenge. Its true goal is to ensure justice for evil-doers and to make sure the European Union and the entire world acknowledge that the Srebrenica genocide actually happened. Aida is a fighter who sees hope at the end of the tunnel–our generation’s duty is to learn from the past and prevent atrocities like the Srebrenica genocide from ever happening again, creating a better and brighter future.

 

Quo Vadis, Aida? - Official Trailer

Related Articles:  

Adam: Women’s Resilience in Morocco

Clara Sola: Defines Feminism with Magical Realism in Costa Rica

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures Opens at Last

Undine: Dangerous Liaisons in Berlin

“Invisible Life” Melodrama is Not Dead Thanks to Brazilian Cinema

Two of Us: Juliette & Juliette of Montpellier

The Mole Agent: No “Mission Impossible” for a 90-Year-Old Chilean Private Detective  

Tove: Bounded by Art, Love, and The “Moomins”

“Honeyland” The Last Beekeeper of Macedonia

Gunda: An Emotional Journey of Pigs, Chickens, and Cows
Parasite: Accomplishes the South Korean Dream
And Then We Danced: Folk, Love & Pride in Georgia
“Synonyms” A Good Jew in Paris
“Roma” Anarchy and Repression in an Epic B&W Mexican Drama
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”

THE WORLD’S BEST FILM FESTIVAL POSTERS 2022

The Best Latina-Theme Movies in America

IF YOU ARE READING FROM A MOBILE DEVICE, CLICK: view web version FOR OTHER COOL FEATURES SUCH AS TRANSLATE POWERED BY GOOGLE, AN INTERACTIVE FILM FESTIVAL CALENDAR, AND MORE AWESOME ARTICLES.

 Festival in LA ©2021

The Mole Agent: No “Mission Impossible” for a 90-Year-Old Chilean Detective

 By José Alberto Hermosillo

“The Mole Agent/El agente topo” is a triumph of the human spirit! It is the most original, intelligent, charming, and endearing movie of the year. 

This Chilean documentary tackles the alienation of the elderly with straightforward honesty and tenderness. The narrative begins when a CLIENT wants to prove a case of elderly abuse against her mother in a nursing home in Chile. She contracts with a detective agency to send its best agent on the mission—someone who can pass unnoticed among the caregivers and other residents in the facility. 

Rómulo Aitken, the head of THE INVESTIGATION AGENCY, is responsible for replacing the previous agent due to a broken hip. The agency’s NEWSPAPER AD states that it is looking for a serious candidate, a man between 80 and 90, for the investigator position.

The interview and selection process went smoothly. Twenty applicants matched the profile, and three seem suitable, with only one being more thoughtful and formal for the role. His name is Sergio Chamy. Finding Sergio was a fortunate accident for the agency and the filmmakers. The determined and meticulous ninety-year-old newest agent can take over the entire investigation. Sergio’s mannerisms, accent, and impeccable behavior make him appear like a well-trained actor, but he is natural, charming, and attentive.

THE TRAINING covers using a cellphone, camera, texting, recording devices, and other GADGETS that every elderly investigator should know, including WhatsApp, an application that many of us do not even know how to use. 

THE INSTITUTION: the agent must blend in with the other elderly patients, look like a “normal grandpa,” and avoid arousing suspicion.

The romance is an unexpected part of every hero’s journey when a coquettish woman wants to date Sergio. He acts like a true gentleman by respecting her without breaking her heart.

 

The target is hard to find, like searching for a needle in a haystack. Sergio’s perseverance guides him to her room. Still, his clumsiness with the gadgets forces him to be more discreet and never look conspicuous or nosy to the nurses or other staff.

THE POET lights up everybody’s story. 

THE SUSPECT seems to be in trouble, and Sergio must find out what it is.

THE CONFLICT is more complex than it seems to be. It has a profound social background that resides within every family, and we tend to forget those who gave us life in the end.

THE RESOLUTION comes as a shocking revelation that no one sees coming. It is almost a biblical lesson to learn: “Who is free from sin, cast the first stone.”

RELIGION is essential to the residents’ lives, as we see some religious motifs that comfort them.

“The Mole Agent” is the work of a genius from a blossoming director, Maite Alberti, who repeatedly mentions that making this film was fun in various virtual Q&As.

The editing follows the storyline directly and professionally, adhering to a spy-movie structure. After that, everything else felt natural, layered, and complex. She emphasized not directing the subject to change Sergio’s natural performance. Making that choice was risky for her, but she had to let Sergio go and experience it fully in front of the camera. 

The director lied a little to get permission to shoot the film inside the facility. She suggested the film’s focus stay on Sergio, the newest arrival, without disturbing others’ lives. When principal photography was finished and the crew left, they had to discover the truth. To be honest, Alberti organized a private screening at the nursing home and shared her true intentions. The relationship they built inside the facility was genuine. When they said goodbye, it was less about losing a resident than about gaining a friend.

Maite Alberti, documentarian, “The Mole Agent.” Photo: José Alberto Hermosillo

 

As a filmmaker, Maite Alberti trusted her instincts. Inside the institution, she made sure everyone felt comfortable with the camera. Maite also discovered that some interns have dementia, so she got approval from a family member to proceed. 

“The Mole Agent” is so well-made that it can confuse viewers. Some believe everything was artificially staged. They think it isn’t a documentary because of the residents’ spontaneous reactions and natural performances. Many genuinely think “El Agente Topo” is a mockumentary because it was directed by professional actors, had a script, and a big budget. 

This linear story was carefully planned and performed naturally by real people, making it resemble a “narrative feature film.” But everything in this vivid documentary is real. Cinema verité style uses real people in everyday situations with authentic dialogue. By capturing the residents’ natural actions, the director created an engaging, authentic docudrama.

The crew arrived three weeks before shooting began, allowing residents and caretakers time to adjust and act naturally in front of the camera. During the four months of filming, they worked six days a week and waited patiently to capture the right moments, aligning with the residents’ daily routines. 

The Chilean Academy chose this co-production, involving Chile, the Netherlands, Spain, Germany, and the United States, to represent Chile at the 93rd Academy Awards in the Best International Feature Film category. This production has been nominated for 24 awards worldwide. It qualified for the documentary category and received an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary Feature. 

“The Mole Agent” is one of the few projects representing the Latino community this year, a year when people of color gained more recognition from the Academy and other major guilds and award organizations than Latinos did. “The Mole Agent” is a heartfelt story that prompts us to reflect on our aging population. This Neo-Noir documentary focuses on creating a lasting universe where everyone who lives, loves, and dies in a nursing home feels real.

“THE MOLE AGENT” OFFICIAL TRAILER

Related Articles:  

The Eternal Memory: An Indelible Story of Love and Alzheimer

The Territory: The Battle to Save the Amazon Has Just Begun

Clara Sola: Defines Feminism with Magical Realism in Costa Rica

Endless Poetry: The Atypical Universe of Alejandro Jodorowsky

“Neruda” Runaway Poet

Under the Volcano: The Golden Era of a Recording Studio in the Caribbean

Laura Pausini: Pleased to Meet You, Recounts the Life of the Italian Megastar 

Quo Vadis, Aida? The Perfect Depiction of a Genocide in The Balkans

A Fantastic Woman: Love, Grief, and Compassion in Santiago

_{Pain and Glory: Almodóvar’s Blast from The Past}

“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Flies High

Two of Us: Juliette & Juliette of Montpellier  

Tove: Bounded by Art, Love, and The “Moomins”

Gunda: An Emotional Journey of Pigs, Chickens, and Cows
Parasite: Accomplishes the South Korean Dream
The Painted Bird: In the Dawn of the Holocaust
And Then We Danced: Folk, Love & Pride in Georgia
Synonyms: A Good Jew in Paris
Roma: Anarchy and Repression in an Epic B&W Mexican Drama
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

THE WORLD’S BEST FILM FESTIVAL POSTERS 2020

 THE WORLD’S BEST FILM FESTIVAL POSTERS 2021

TWENTY BEST MOVIES OF 2020
The Best Latina-Theme Movies in America 

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures Opens at Last

IF YOU ARE READING FROM A MOBILE DEVICE, CLICK: view web version FOR OTHER COOL FEATURES SUCH AS TRANSLATE POWERED BY GOOGLE, AN INTERACTIVE FILM FESTIVAL CALENDAR, AND MORE AWESOME ARTICLES.

Festival in LA ©2021

Tove: Bounded by Art, Love and The “Moomins”

By José Alberto Hermosillo

Once upon a time in Helsinki, a young lady full of dreams and vitality wanted to transcend history but didn’t know how. Her name was Tove Jansson. Her superpower was drawing, and her immeasurable creativity resulted in the adorable creatures known as “The Moomins.”

At the end of WWII, in Finland, culture was moderated by politics and religion to reunite society. At that time, the arts were a fundamental part of the country’s economic recovery. Tove’s renowned father, acclaimed sculptor Viktor’ Faffan’ Jansson, wanted to see his daughter become an extraordinary painter, but destiny had other plans.

 

While Tove’s father worked on his art, the daughter consumed her precious time drawing sketches. When the concerned parent asked her to continue painting, she responded sarcastically, “Should I paint something for our fatherland?” The dialog and the visuals create relevant symbolism throughout the entire movie. 

She wanted to gain independence and freedom from her parents. But those idealistic goals have a price. First, she must create a sanctuary to get inspiration, connect with her interior light, and perhaps a muse. She wants to use her experience as a well-traveled, liberal woman who knows how people in Morocco live.

Meeting a guy is a start to opening to her sexuality and a deeper existentialist level. Tove is a free-spirited woman who thinks having sex with another woman resembles a flying dragon on fire. Still, she believes that life is a beautiful adventure. In her artistic field, rejection does not come from her father’s disapproval but from academics.

She starts moving away from paintings to sketches and plays with the idea of having stripes with dialogues. Soon, her original and fun illustrations transformed into many satirical cartoons.

Actress Alma Pöysti plays Tove flawlessly. Before filming, she was already familiar with the project because she previously participated in the animated feature film Moomins on the Riviera, giving voice to Niiskuneiti in the Finnish version.

Among the bourgeoisie, Tove feels sorry for people who are not artistic. “Ingenuity is a hallmark,” she says, referring to a personalized birthday card she drew for the wealthy father of her new best friend, Vivica Vandler (Krista Kosonen). Vivica is a theater director with whom Tove falls in love and decides to live the intensity of the Palme d’Or winner “Blue is the Warmest Color,” explicitly speaking.

Throughout the film, her graphic work becomes more relevant, and Tove’s unassuming and original work gains followers. Her friends and loved ones are drowning in the mysterious world of the Moomins, and Vivica treasures a blueprint of The Moominvalley and makes it hers. 

In Tove Jansson’s life, sometimes, opportunities came from connections with other artists and politicians. She is soon chosen to paint a fresco for the City Hall. A controversy regarding class conflict occurs, not as tense as Diego Rivera’s mural at the Rockefeller Center in New York depicted in Tim Robbin’s “Cradle Will Rock,” 1999. Still, both are in favor of the oppressed.

Vivica convinces Tove to write and stage a children’s play and elaborates that costumes and sets were a titanic labor of love that would pay off later in her life.

 

Some of the characters in the play reflect her ideology and lifestyle. Smoking, drinking, and swearing can be inappropriate for some children, and the press questions her. As an author, Tove wants to materialize her work as it is, without affliction.

 

The film becomes heartfelt when we see Tove’s loneliness and struggle to make ends meet, forcing her to take a more commercial direction in her career. 

In the 1950s, her debut as a cartoonist reached a bigger audience when she signed a juicy contract with the London Evening News, the world’s biggest newspaper. She had to publish a comic strip weekly. She asked her brother Lars Jansson to come on board to meet the demand. 

The music evolution enriches the story beautifully, evolving from an impassioned Tango to Jazz, Classic, and some fantastic “Chanson Françoise,” including the magnificent compositions of Matti Bye (“Everlasting Moments”).

The Moomins are physically ambiguous in form and color; for instance, they are white and neutral. Their shape is not precisely a hippo, but those charming, chubby creatures are the cutest.

Book cover courtesy of Drawn & Quarterly

Children and adults are fascinated by the gentle sense of humor of “The Moomins.” Besides the sarcasm, they are part of the modern art movement. The creatures criticize the socialites’ pretentiousness and way of life, and they have the ambition to explore the world. The cartoons are groundbreaking for other successful, irreverent, and popular animated series with a similar sense of humor, such as “The Simpsons,” “Family Guy,” or “Mafalda” from Argentina.

“Tove” is structured similarly to “Tom of Finland” - the 2017 biopic of an artist pioneer of LGBTQ rights. Tom revolutionized the world of graphics with his risqué and daring illustrations.
Without smearing the feminist crusade in the face, director Zaida Bergroth (“Last Cowboy Standing,” “The Good Son”) recreates Tove’s world in Europe during the 40s, 50s, and 60s wonderfully and delicately portrays the life of Tove Jansson. Bergroth focuses on Tove’s art and humanism, social class, and women’s sexuality eloquently.

Written by Eeva Putro, “Tove” is the final biographical film of Swedish-Finnish author and illustrator, creator of the world’s acclaimed Moomins, who transcend through time. The film was selected as the Finnish entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards. 

“Tove” is a passionate and imaginative work of art worth waiting for us to divert it to expand our knowledge about essential creators who brought out transcendent animates and endearing characters such as “The Moomins” to life. 

  

TOVE (2020)Trailer | Moomins Creator Movie

 

Related Articles: 

Moomins on the Riviera: Social Satire in Animation

Passages: A Sui Generis Affair in Paris

The Missing: Nightmares, Aliens & A Coming of Age Filipino Love Story

Joyland: A Cinematic Rejoice from Pakistan

Three Thousand Years of Longing, George Miller’s Lavish Genie Tale

Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris, The British Cleaning Lady to the Dior House

Clara Sola: Defines Feminism with Magical Realism in Costa Rica

Olga: The Ukrainian Gymnast Embodies Switzerland at the Oscars

Annette: Swings Between “La La Land” and “Moulin Rouge!” Beautifully

And Then We Danced: Folk, Love & Pride in Georgia 

“A Fantastic Woman” Love, Grief, and Compassion in Santiago

Two of Us: Juliette & Juliette of Montpellier

The New Girlfriend: A New Trend in Transgender Cinema

HOOKED: YOUNG GAY AND HOMELESS IN AMERICA

You’re Killing Me: Dating a Serial Killer with Humor 

“How to Win at Checkers (Every Time)” A Nostalgic Tale of Brotherhood & Tolerance

Quo Vadis, Aida? The Perfect Depiction of a Genocide in The Balkans

Parasite: Accomplishes the South Korean Dream
The Painted Bird: In the Dawn of the Holocaust

“Invisible Life” Melodrama is Not Dead Thanks to Brazilian Cinema

Synonyms” A Good Jew in Paris  

Roma Anarchy and Repression in an Epic B&W Mexican Drama  

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

The Best Latina-Theme Movies in America 

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures Opens at Last

TWENTY BEST MOVIES OF 2020
THE WORLD’S BEST FILM FESTIVAL POSTERS 2020

IF YOU ARE READING FROM A MOBILE DEVICE, CLICK: view web version FOR OTHER COOL FEATURES SUCH AS TRANSLATE POWERED BY GOOGLE, AN INTERACTIVE FILM FESTIVAL CALENDAR, AND MORE AWESOME ARTICLES.

Festival in LA ©2021