Going Diaspora
A young man is about to leave Bosnia for Luxembourg in search for a better life there, and says goodbye to the city he grew up in.
Synopsis
Hasan is leaving his home country Bosnia for a country with better opportunities, Luxembourg. He has finally managed to find a job there after a long, unsuccessful search back home. He spends his final day in Sarajevo as he says farewell to the city he grew up in and to his mother, while reflecting upon a promise he made to a friend a long time ago and is about to break. Turns out that leaving his city and mother behind isn’t as easy as he thought it would be.
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, Luxemburg | 2022 | 17 min
DIRECTOR: Damir Mehic
PRODUCTION: Rasit Gorgulu, Damir Mehic – Bor Media Balkan
CAST: Dino Bajrovic, Vanesa Glodjo, Lidija Kordic
SCREENPLAY: Damir Mehic
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Vedat Demir
EDITING: Aid Besic
SCREENING: Friday 25 November / 15:00h / Zaal 4 & Sunday 27 November / 11:00h / Zaal 5
The screening on Sunday the 28th will be followed by a Q&A with the director Damir Mehic. Dutch Premiere
Director’s statement
What is home for us? What does it mean to us? What does it mean to leave our home, for another country, leaving everything you know behind? These are questions that many young people in Bosnia, as well young people from the entire Balkans and Southeastern Europe, are currently asking themselves, being in a dilemma if they want to continue their life in the region, or move up to the West. And this is exactly what this movie is all about; the dilemma that many young people have, based on the biggest political and social crisis that Bosnia & Hercegovina, as well as its neighboring countries all around the Balkans, are currently facing.
The film was made based on my many interrogations with people who moved away from the Balkan region up west and their experiences to move away. It is based on the many similar stories that we hear from the people who leave the region. And this film has the ability to speak to the people who moved to the West, it can speak and touch the people who have been in the same situation as Hasan in the film and those who are undergoing the same dilemma. It is a universal story about immigration, what it means to leave your family, your country, your roots, and its cultural context, and everything you know for the unknown.
Director’s bio
Damir Mehic is a Luxembourg born filmmaker of Bosnian and Montenegrin origins. Now he is 21 years old, a student at Lodz Film School in Poland. He has written film reviews for the newspaper “Woxx” and for his school newspaper and participated twice as a Youth Jury of the Luxembourg City Film Festival as well at the Young European Cinephiles program of the LUCAS Film Festival. He participated as Juror and Ambassador at Giornate degli Autori this year as part of the “27 Times Cinema”.
Festivals & Awards (selection)
Sarajevo Film Festival, 2022 | Herceg Novi Film Festival, 2022