12/12/2013 - Croatian director Arsen Anton Ostojic’s film is a poignant and, at times, suffocating story about grief

The crowd was emotional as it left the screening room at the Cinemamed festival, which closes this evening in Brussels. Not many people spoke, lost as they were in the captivating atmosphere of Croatian director Arsen Anton Ostojic’s latest feature film.

Halima's Path [+see also:
trailer
film profile] follows Halima (Alma Prica), a courageous woman fighting to track down her niece Safija (Olga Pakalovic) in Bosnia as the country struggles to recover from the war. Before the war, Safija had become pregnant as a result of an impossible love, and her child secretly entrusted to her aunt. With him a Christian and her a Muslim, the couple had no choice but to run away in order to pursue their relationship. Twenty-five years later, Halima must battle to find the only person potentially capable of helping her identify the remains of the person she thought of as her own son who died at the hands of the Serbians.

Halima's Path is a poignant tale which is pleasing in its simplicity and in its enthralling yet sometimes overwhelmingly sorrowful atmosphere. Viewers can’t help but empathise in the face of such injustice, and admire the characters’ determination. Instead of caving into misery and dejection, Halima's Path celebrates the courage and integrity of a people ravaged by war.

The focus in this feature film is very much on strong women who, despite being constrained by the morals and decorum inherent to their religion and culture, nevertheless manage to win respect and to impose themselves in a brutal world where they play but a secondary role. Secrets and twists unfold as the story advances, captivating the audience to the very last minute.

Croatian director Arsen Anton Ostojic previously won acclaim for his movie A Wonderful Night in Split which scooped a variety of awards, and he seems to be repeating this success with Halima's Path, which was presented as Croatia’s representative at the Oscars and which has already bagged a dozen or so prizes, including the Audience Award at the Pula Film Festival and the Special Jury Prize at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.

This co-production between Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia Herzegovina is now set to screen in the European Film Days in Algeria event, as well as in Cairo and Cottbus. 

(Translated from French)