International Competition

Feature Films

On The Path

Bosnia and Herzegovina / Austria / Croatia / Germany
2009, 100min.

Producers: Damir Ibrahimović, Bruno Wagner, Barbara Albert, Karl Baumgartner, Raimond Goebel, Leon Lučev, Dir./Script: Jasmila Žbanić, Director of Photography: Christine A. Maier, Composer: Brano Jakubović, Prod. Design: Lada Maglajlić, Amir Vuk, Sound: Igor Čamo, Editor: Niki Mossböck
Cast: Zrinka Cvitešić, Leon Lučev, Ermin Bravo, Mirjana Karanović, Marija Köhn, Nina Violić, Sebastian Cavazza, Jasna Ornela Bery, Izudin Bajrović, Jasna Žalica, Luna Mijović

A loving young couple, Luna and Amar, try their best to overcome unexpected obstacles that threaten their relationship. When Amar is suspended for drinking on the job, Luna worries that this will interfere with her already fragile dreams of having a baby. Luna's fears grow when Amar accepts a well-paid job hours away in a fundamentalist Muslim community. After having had no contact with Amar for some time, Luna is finally allowed to visit him at the secluded Wahhabi commune situated on an idyllic lake. She discovers a mysterious environment of veiled women and ritual – a world where men and women live separated and under strict surveillance. Luna begs Amar to come home, but he convinces her that the isolated sanctuary of prayer has brought him peace and helped him stop drinking. When Amar returns home several weeks later, Luna notices a dramatic change in his attitude toward religion. Amar insists that he is just trying to become a better man, but Luna finds it increasingly more difficult to understand his new beliefs. She begins to question everything that she has believed in, even her desire to have a child. As the wounds of a tragic war-filled past continue to haunt her, Luna tears herself apart trying to understand if love really is enough to keep her and Amar together for a lifetime of happiness.

Production Companies

Deblokada
Kranjčevićeva 43
71000 Sarajevo,
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Tel/fax: +387 33 668 559
Email: deblok@bih.net.ba
www.deblokada.ba

coop99 filmproduktion
Wasagasse 12 / 1
1090 Wien, Austria
Tel: +43-1-3195825
Fax: +43-1-3195825-20
Email: welcome@coop99.at
www.coop99.at

Pola Pandora Filmproduktion
Schewdter Strasse 13
D-10119 Berlin, Germany
Tel.: +49 69 24247441
Fax: +49 69 24247443
Email: pola@pandorafilm.com

Živa Production
Heinzelova 47
10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Tel/fax: +385 1 4662 100
Email: ziva.produkcija@gmail.com

Žbanić, Jasmila

Jasmila Žbanić (born 1974, Sarajevo)
She attended Sarajevo Academy of Performing Arts. In 1995 she worked as a puppeteer at the Bread and Puppet theatre in the USA. In 1997 she founded the artists’ association Deblokada, through which she produced, wrote and directed numerous documentaries, art videos and shorts that were screened to great acclaim at international festivals. Her directorial debut, Grbavica, won the Berlin Golden Bear (Berlinale 2006).

Filmography (selected)
After, After (1997), Love is (1998), We Light the Night (1998), Red Rubber Boots (2000), To and Fro (2002), Images from the Corner (2003), Lost and Found: Birthday (2004), Grbavica (2005), Builder's Diary (2005), Participation (2008), On the Path (2009)