"Grbavica" Wins "Golden Bear�

NGO

20 February 2006

�Grbavica�, a long feature film directed by young Bosnian directress Jasmila Zbanic, won the �Golden Bear� Award for best film at the Berlin Film Festival. Zbanic will arrive to Sarajevo today, while the Obala Art Centre and �Deblokada� Production Company announced great festivities �adequate to the success of the film�.

Jasmila Zbanic, "Grbavica" Directress

"I still feel like this is a dream and I will wake up in Sarajevo in a minute. I never expected the award, having in mind that prior to the festival, entering the official competition programme of the Berlinnale was enough of an award for me�, said Zbanic.

"I just want to use this opportunity to remind us all that the war in Bosnia was over some 13 years ago and the war criminals Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic still live in Europe freely," said Zbanic, 31, referring to the former Bosnian Serb leader and his army chief.

In addition to the �Golden Bear�, �Grbavica� won two more prizes, the ecumenical jury award and the Peace Award handed to Zbanic yesterday, in Berlin.

Grbavica" tells the story of the fraught relationship between a woman raped during the Bosnian War 1992-1995 and the rebellious daughter she raises alone in Sarajevo without knowing which of the men that violated her was the father.

Mirsad Purivatra, the Direktor of the Sarajevo Film Festival, �Grbavica�s� B&H distributor, said that he expected an award.

"I figured we would win either the Grand Prix or the Golden Bear. Once the Grand Prix was announced, I knew that we got the Bear. I would thank Charlotte Rampling, the Chairwoman of the Jury, for keeping her promise to vote as a common viewer, on the basis of what she felt and saw on the faces of the audience�, said Purivatra.