Quo Vadis, Aida?

Deftly balancing an intimate personal story and a large-scale dramatisation of a historical tragedy, Jasmila Zbanic has made one of the best films of the year with the riveting Quo Vadis, Aida? Bosnia 1995. Aida is a translator for the UN when the Serbian army takes over Srebrenica, her hometown. Her husband and sons are among the thousands of citizens looking for shelter in an overburdened UN camp. As an insider to the negotiations Aida has access to crucial information but can she do her job and protect her family?

‘I always wanted to tell the story of Srebenica. And it is very important that the audience follows a character they want to identify with. Srebenica was a very interesting story, even before July 11, 1995. It was a city under siege. When I started I had mostly Bosnian sources and I talked to a lot of victims. And I got this view of Dutch soldiers who could have done something and didn’t. And they didn’t have any empathy. And then I went to the Netherlands and spoke with some of them, some of them were 18 year-olds that were completely lost, they didn’t know where they came to, why they came. And then my perspective changed, because of them. For me, that was touching that we are connected in this weird way.’

Jasmila Zbanic, Director