Can a film about the Srebrenica massacre un-revise history through one woman's desperate eyes?
In short: Jasmila Žbanić’s 2020 war drama Quo Vadis, Aida? dramatizes the 1995 Srebrenica massacre by centering on a UN translator attempting to save her husband and sons. By shifting the focus from historical abstraction to a mother's visceral fight for survival, the film confronts institutional failure and the haunting reality of impunity.
The film is based on the book Under the UN Flag by Hasan Nuhanović, a Srebrenica survivor who worked as a UN translator. Director Jasmila Žbanić made the controversial creative choice to replace the male protagonist with a female character, Aida Selmanagić, played by Jasna Đuričić. This shift was intended to foster a deeper emotional connection with the audience, though it led to Nuhanović leaving the project due to creative differences and the emotional toll of the writing process. The production itself was a massive international effort, requiring funding from twelve companies across countries including Austria, Germany, and Turkey, after local financing proved impossible.
Žbanić meticulously reconstructed the atmosphere of the UN base in Potočari using seven hours of authentic footage of Dutch soldiers. The film depicts the harrowing reality of the massacre, where over 8,300 Bosniak men and boys were killed by the Bosnian Serb Army under General Ratko Mladić. The narrative captures the chilling contrast between the 'civilized' negotiations held by Mladić and the brutal reality of the executions at the Dom Kulture in Pilica, where residents were seen drinking coffee while gunfire echoed from the building. The film’s commitment to accuracy even extended to its extras, many of whom were survivors of the war.
Critical reception has been overwhelmingly positive, with the film holding a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 97/100 score on Metacritic. Critics have praised Žbanić for avoiding the pitfalls of historical revisionism, instead forcing a confrontation with the institutional indifference that allowed the genocide to occur. The film’s final act serves as an unnerving reminder that many perpetrators escaped justice, living in the very homes from which their victims were expelled. By refusing to offer easy consolation, the film insists that while time passes and memories fade, the loss remains permanent and unanswerable.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Quo Vadis, Aida?
- Also: Wikidata — Quo Vadis, Aida? · CC0
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