As If I Am Not There
Irish film poster
Directed byJuanita Wilson
Written byEliseo Altunaga
Based onAs If I Am Not There
by Slavenka Drakulić
Produced byJames Flynn
Nathalie Lichtenthaeler
Karen Richards
StarringStellan Skarsgård
Nataša Petrović
CinematographyTim Fleming
Edited byNathan Nugent
Music byKiril Dzajkovski
Production
companies
Euroimages Fund of the Council of Europe
Film i Väst
Octagon Films
Screen Ireland
Sektor Film Skopje
W2 Filmproduktion und Vertriebs
WMG Film
Wide Eye Films
Distributed byCorinth Films
Release dates
  • 26 July 2010 (2010-07-26) (Bosnia)
  • 4 March 2011 (2011-03-04) (Ireland)
Running time
109 minutes
CountryIreland
LanguageSerbo-Croatian

As If I Am Not There (Serbian: Као да ме нема, Kao da me nema) is a 2010 drama film made by Irish director Juanita Wilson. The film is set in the Balkans and is shot in the Serbo-Croatian language.[1] It was selected as the Irish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 84th Academy Awards,[1][2][3] but did not make the final shortlist.[4]

The film follows a young teacher who travels to a remote village. After the village is attacked, she is imprisoned and raped, together with the women of village. It is based on Slavenka Drakulić's 1999 novel of the same name that deals with war rape in the Bosnian War.[5]

Plot

Set during the Bosnian War, the movie follows the experiences of a young female teacher from Sarajevo who travels to a remote village to teach. Soon after arriving, the village is attacked by a group of soldiers. The men are killed, the women separated from the children, and placed in a makeshift brothel. There, the women are repeatedly raped and beaten.

The film is adapted from a novel by Croatian journalist Slavenka Drakulic based on testimony of women taken prisoner during the Bosnian War.

Cast

Reception

The film received positive reviews. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 85% based on 13 reviews, with an average rating of 6.4/10.[6]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Kemp, Stuart (21 September 2011). "Irish Film & TV Academy Picks Juanita Wilson's 'As If I Am Not There' For Oscar Race". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  2. ^ "New Zealand submits Samoan film to Oscars". BBC News. 14 October 2011. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
  3. ^ "63 Countries Vie for 2011 Foreign Language Film Oscar". oscars.org. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
  4. ^ "9 Foreign Language Films Vie for Oscar". Retrieved 19 January 2012.
  5. ^ "As If I Am Not There". screendaily.com. 13 September 2010. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
  6. ^ "As If I Am Not There (2010)". 26 July 2010. Retrieved 2 December 2020.

External links

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