Venice Competition Title ‘Quo Vadis, Aida?’ Acquired by Indie Sales (EXCLUSIVE)
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Paris-based company Indie Sales has acquired Jasmila Žbanic’s “Quo Vadis, Aida?” which will world premiere in competition at the Venice Film Festival.
Co-produced by Indie Sales’ sister company Indie Prod, the film is based on real events and is set in the Bosnian summer of 1995, against the backdrop of the Serbian occupation of Srebrenica, a U.N. safe zone.
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The compelling drama follows the journey of Aida, who works as a translator for the United Nations peacekeeping task force at a camp where her husband and two sons are being held along with thousands of other Bosnian citizens. As the Serbian army’s threat to overtake the camp escalates, the horizon for Aida’s family and community gets out of hand.
A well-established Bosnian filmmaker, Žbanic won the Golden Bear in 2006 with her debut feature “Grbavica.” Her second feature “On The Path” also competed in Berlinale in 2010. Her following films, including “For Those Who Can Tell No Tales,” screened at Toronto, and “Love Island” which played at Locarno.
“The story of Srebrenica is a part of our recent European history. It shows what happens if we don’t react on time to warning signs,” said Žbanic.
“The Venice film festival – after such a horrible period in Italy – is for us the most truthful place to raise questions on empathy and solidarity, the main focus of our film,” added Žbanic.
“Quo Vadis, Aida?” is one of the 18 movies slated to compete at the Venice Film Festival, whose lineup was unveiled on Tuesday.
Nicolas Eschbach, Indie Sales’ CEO and co-founder, said the company was “proud to be part of the Venice competition with ‘Quo Vadis, Aida?’ as festivals resume their activities.”
“It’s an honor to work with an established director such as Jasmila who successfully managed to depict a very sensible moment in our recent history. The work she achieved with Jasna Đuričić, her main actress, is particularly impressive,” said Eschbach.
“Quo Vadis, Aida?” was produced by Sarajevo-based Deblokada, in co-production with Austria’s coop99 filmproduktion, Romania’s Digital Cube, the Netherlands’ N279, Germany’s Razor Film, Poland’s Extreme Emotions, France’s Indie Prod, Norway’s Torden Film, Turkey’s TRT, ZDF ARTE, ORF and BHRT.
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