Quo Vadis, Aida?

2021 1h 44m SR

🙌

7.6

BANGER

★7.6TMDB · 499

WarDramaHistory

Synopsis

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Bosnia, July 1995. Aida is a translator for the UN in the small town of Srebrenica. When the Serbian army takes over the town, her family is among the thousands of citizens looking for shelter in the UN camp. As an insider to the negotiations Aida has access to crucial information that she needs to interpret. What is at the horizon for her family and people – rescue or death? Which move should she take?

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Jasna Đuričić
Aïda Selmanagić
Izudin Bajrović
Nihad
Boris Ler
Hamdija
Dino Bajrović
Sejo
Johan Heldenbergh
Colonel Karremans
Raymond Thiry
Sergeant-major Franken
Boris Isaković
General Ratko Mladić
Emir Hadžihafizbegović
Joka

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Jasmila Žbanić
Writers: Hasan Nuhanovic, Jasmila Žbanić
Languages: English, Bosnian, Dutch, Serbo-Croatian, Serbian
Countries: Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Turkey, Croatia, Sweden, Montenegro, Italy

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $4.8M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 17% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 5 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 5 languages: English, Bosnian, Dutch, Serbo-Croatian, Serbian.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 13 countries: Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Turkey, Croatia, Sweden, Montenegro, Italy.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Quo Vadis, Aida? Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Jasmila Žbanić, shot by Christine A. Maier. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Antoni Komasa-Łazarkiewicz. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Jasmila Žbanić directs. Christine A. Maier behind the camera. Antoni Komasa-Łazarkiewicz scores. Jarosław Kamiński cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Turkey, Croatia, Sweden, Montenegro, Italy. Dialogue in English, Bosnian, Dutch, Serbo-Croatian, Serbian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $4.8M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Earned back only 17% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
3Released 5 years ago.
4Dialogue crosses 5 languages: English, Bosnian, Dutch, Serbo-Croatian, Serbian.
5International production across 13 countries: Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Turkey, Croatia, Sweden, Montenegro, Italy.
6Part of the "Quo Vadis, Aida? Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
7Directed by Jasmila Žbanić, shot by Christine A. Maier. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
8Original score by Antoni Komasa-Łazarkiewicz. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
9Editor Jarosław Kamiński shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
10Jasna Đuričić and Izudin Bajrović and Boris Ler carry the top of the cast.
11IMDB entry: tt8633462 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Christine A. Maier
Original score: Antoni Komasa-Łazarkiewicz
Editing: Jarosław Kamiński
Production design: Hannes Salat
Makeup / hair: Regina Breitfellner
Sound: Igor Čamo
Runtime: 104 min · 1h 44m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $4,750,000
Box office: $813,253
Return: 17% of budget
Original language: SR
IMDB: Quo Vadis, Aida? (2021)

Awards

European Film Award for Best Director
European Film Award for Best Actress
European Film Award for Best Film
LUX European Audience Film Award
IFFR audience award
Golden Orange Award for Best Film in International Competition

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Part of

Quo Vadis, Aida? Collection

A dramatization of the events of the Srebrenica massacre, during which Serbian troops sent 8,372 Bosniak men and boys to death and mass expelled another 25,000–30,000 Bosniak civilians in July 1995 led by Serbian convicted war criminal Ratko Mladić.

Quo Vadis, Aida?
2021 · this one

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Jasmila Žbanić

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Giovanni2021-08-24
★ 7/10
Intro Quo Vadis Aida, released in 2020, is more than a film. It tells us a story, and it reminds us of our political organisation’s failures and invites us to wake up, so that those tragic events will never happen again. The Srebrenica genocide happened in 1995 and, although it’s very recent, too many people ignore this tragedy. Real events inspired the movie, although some characters are fictional. The whole cast delivered a good product which got an Oscar nominee as “Best International Feature Film” and many others awards. Movie’s analysis at SpotaMovie.com - The Story In July 1995, the Serbian’s soldiers were ready to invade Bosnia and the city of Srebrenica. U.N. officers and the blue helmets had the duty to protect the population and prevent the invasion. Aida is an interpreter working for the U.N., helping during the negotiation between the Bosnians and the blue helmets. While the time quickly passes, colonel Karremans doesn’t receive any updates or support from the U.N., NATO, or the Dutch government. The situation is dangerous. Thousands of people gathered near the U.N. compound seeking help. But they are too many, the blue helmets struggle to keep control, and general Mladic is ready to enter the city.
CinemaSerf2025-02-16
★ 7/10
Set as the Bosnian Serb army laid siege to the town of Srebrenica, this dramatises the story of an UN interpreter “Aida” (Jasna Djuricic) and her desperate fight to rescue her husband and two sons from the encroaching forces under the command of the ruthless Ratko Mladic (Boris Isakovic). Their “safe zone” is little safer than elsewhere in the war-torn community and with the largely Dutch troops entirely out-gunned and lacking external support either politically or militarily, she knows that if she can’t get her family away as they evacuate then they will not leave alive. What we see here shows the shocking ineffectiveness of the international community’s response to this horror and, despite pleas from their blue-hatted soldiers on the ground, how little was actually done to assist those facing racial genocide at the hands of a charismatic thug. Djuricic does really well here as she strives to convey a palpable sense of not just her own family panic, but of a grand scale fear that innocent civilians faced indiscriminate violence, relocation and quite possibly death imminently. It’s also quite a potent reminder of the obligations due to people who put themselves in harm’s way to help peacekeeping operations as and when these situations change. Even if, technically, these people are not a direct responsibility we still have a duty of care that this drama clearly shows us abrogated. It’s almost entirely filmed using an intimate hand-held style of photography that adds quite a degree of intimacy to the proceedings, and the last few scenes are as traumatic as cinema gets. Though it’s a tough watch it’s a worthwhile one.