SARAJEVO: A Bosnian film that highlights the horrors of the 1990s genocide in Bosnia-Herzegovina has the full backing of survivors to win in the Oscars.
Reuters reported yesterday that survivors of the Srebrenica genocide hope that Quo Vadis, Aida? (Where Are You Going Aida?), an Oscar-nominated film about the massacre of 8,000 Bosniak civilians by Bosnian Serb militias will shed light on the crime against humanity.
Quo Vadis, Aida? directed by Jasmila Zbanic is one of the five nominees for the Best International Feature Film category in the Oscars.
It highlights the July 1995 killings of men and boys in the United Nations-protected eastern Bosnian town of Srebrenica. The infamous event was Europe's only atrocity since World War Two constituting genocide.
The film shows how the genocide unfolded through the eyes of a female interpreter working at the United Nations base in Srebrenica.
Zbanic chose to tell the story through a woman, Aida, specially to honour all women who struggled to save their husbands and sons.
Munira Subasic, the head of an association of Srebrenica mothers who lost their husbands and sons in the genocide said: "I was strongly disturbed by the film, I found myself again in 1995, amidst the struggle to save my son Nermin."
Zbanic said: "This film is more than a film. It is a reminder that genocide must not be denied or forgotten."
The custodians of the Srebrenica Memorial Centre, which served as the UN base during the Bosnian War from 1992 to 1995, hope that the film will raise awareness of the importance of a culture of remembrance.
Genocide survivor Hasan Hasanovic, who lost his father and brother, said: "An Oscar for this film will stop genocide denial and historical revisionism."
