''As If I Am Not There'' (Serbian: Као да ме нема, ''Kao da me nema'') is a 2010

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

made by Irish director

Juanita Wilson Juanita Wilson is an Irish director and writer from Dublin. Her short film ''The Door'' received an Irish Film and Television Award (IFTA) in 2009 and an Academy Award nomination in 2010. Her debut feature film ''As If I Am Not There'' received ...

. The film is set in the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

and is shot in the Serbo-Croatian language. It was selected as the Irish entry for the

Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress# ...

at the

84th Academy Awards The 84th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2011 in the United States and took place on February 26, 2012, at the Hollywood and Highland Center Theatre in H ...

, but did not make the final shortlist. 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 Slavenka Drakulić (born July 4, 1949) is a Croatian journalist, novelist, and essayist whose works on feminism, communism, and post-communism have been translated into many languages. Biography Drakulić was born in Rijeka, Croatia (at that time ...

's 1999 novel of the same name that deals with

war rape Wartime sexual violence is rape or other forms of sexual violence committed by combatants during armed conflict, war, or military occupation often as spoils of war, but sometimes, particularly in ethnic conflict, the phenomenon has broader soc ...

in the

Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( sh, Rat u Bosni i Hercegovini / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The war is commonly seen as having started ...

Plot

Set during the

, the movie follows the experiences of a young female teacher from

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajev ...

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

Nataša Petrović Nataša Petrović (Macedonian: Наташа Петровиќ; Serbian Cyrillic: Наташа Петровић; born 31 August 1988), also known as Natasha Petrovic, is a Macedonian actress of Serbian descent. She made her on–screen debut in 200 ...

as Samira * Fedja Stukan as The Captain *

Jelena Jovanova Jelena Jovanova Perić ( mk, Јелена Јованова Периќ; born 21 October 1984) is a Macedonian actress. Biography Jelena Jovanova was born in SR Bosnia and Herzegovina to a Macedonian father from Štip and a Bosnian Serb mother from ...

as Jasmina *

Miraj Grbić Miraj Grbić (born 17 July 1976) is a Bosnian–American film, television and theater actor. Biography Grbić graduated from the Academy of Performing Arts in Sarajevo at the University of Sarajevo, where he earned an M.A. degree in acting. Sinc ...

as Commander *

Jasna Diklić Jasna Diklić (born March 8, 1946) is a Bosnian theatre and film actress. She was born in Sarajevo. Her mother was also an actress and a puppeteer. Diklić's first theatre experiences began at MESS Festival's experimental theatre studio, after wh ...

Zvezda Angelovska Zvezda means "star" in some Slavic languages, and may refer to: Entertainment * ''Zvezda'' (magazine), Russian literary magazine * Zvezda (TV channel), Russian TV channel * ''Star'' (2014 film), a Russian film * ''The Star'' (1953 film), a Rus ...

Nikolina Kujaca Nikolina is the given name of: * Nikolina Angelkova (born 1979), Bulgarian politician * Nikolina Božičević (born 1995), Croatian volleyball player * Nikolina Brnjac (born 1978), Croatian politician * Nikolina Grabovac (born 1968), Croatian bas ...

Sanja Burić Sanja is a South Slavic feminine given name, meaning "she dreams". Notable persons with this name *Sanja Ančić (born 1988), Croatian tennis player *Sanja Bestic (born 1982), Serbian-American director, writer and producer * Sanja Bizjak (born 1 ...

Katina Ivanova Katina may refer to * Katina (name) * Katina (Star Fox planet) * Katina ceremony, a Buddhist festival * ''Katina'' (film), 1942 US production with Jack Oakie and Sonja Henie, also known as ''Iceland'' * Katina (island), an island in Croatia *'' ...

Jana Stojanovska Miss World 2007, the 57th edition of the Miss World pageant, was held on 1 December 2007 at the Crown of Beauty Theatre in Sanya, China. It was hosted by Fernando Allende and Angela Chow. Zhang Zilin of China won the crown and succeeded ...

Nino Levi Nino or Niño may refer to: * Nino (name) * Niño (name) *Antonin Scalia, American Supreme Court justice whose nickname was "Nino" * El Niño, a climate pattern in the tropical Pacific Ocean *NINO, an abbreviation for National Insurance number in ...

Irina Apelgren Irina (Cyrillic: Ирина) is a feminine given name of Ancient Greek origin, commonly borne by followers of the Eastern Orthodox Church. It is derived from Eirene ( Ancient Greek: Εἰρήνη), an ancient Greek goddess, personification of ...

as Alisa *

Jana Mircevska Jana may refer to: Entertainment * ''Jana'' (film), a 2004 Tamil film by Shaji Kailas * Jana (singer) (born 1974), Serbian singer * Jana (Native American singer), née Jana Mashonee * '' Jana of the Jungle'', animated series created by Doug Wil ...

Stellan Skarsgård Stellan Skarsgård (, ; born 13 June 1951) is a Swedish actor. He is known for his collaborations with director Lars von Trier appearing in ''Breaking the Waves'' (1996), '' Dancer in the Dark'' (2000), '' Dogville'' (2007), ''Melancholia'' (20 ...

Reception

The film received positive reviews. Review aggregation website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

gives the film a score of 85% based on 13 reviews, with an average rating of 6.4/10.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:As If I Am Not There 2010 films 2010 drama films 2010 war drama films Irish drama films Serbo-Croatian-language films Bosnian War films Films based on Croatian novels Films about rape Films about Bosnian genocide Yugoslav Wars in fiction

Plot

Cast

Reception

See also

References

External links