The Abandoned (2010 film)

The Abandoned (Bosnian: Ostavljeni) is a 2010 Bosnian film that was made in Croatian-French co-production of Bosnian director Adis Bakrač. Produced by Almir Šahinović, Marie-Anne Coste, Zoran Tasić, Marijo Vukadin and famous Hollywood producer Page Ostrow. The film stars Mira Furlan, Tony Grga, Mirsad Tuka, Mirela Lambić, Dragan Marinković, Meto Jovanovski and Zijah Sokolović and was written by famous multiple award-winning Bosnian writer and screenwriter Zlatko Topčić.

The Abandoned is the story of a boy from the orphanage for abandoned children who tried to find out the truth about his origins. Through the story of a boy Alen, The Abandoned describe the consequences of war casualties and immense injustice that war brought most helpless, the children.^[2]

The film premiered at prestigious Karlovy Vary International Film Festival^[3][4][5] on 8 July 2010, and was released to cinemas throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina on 7 December 2010.^[6]

Plot

The story starts in a Bosnian woods in 1993, when a women gives birth to a baby boy, and jumps to 2007, to an orphanage in Sarajevo which is home to a thirteen-year-old boy, Alen (Tony Grga). Former director Gago (Meto Jovanovski) told Alen that his mother is French, and his father is an Englishman who met as war reporters in Sarajevo and due to war and professional obligations have temporarily left him in the orphanage.

Alen writes letters to his mother and gives them to educator Cica (Mira Furlan), which they should be sent to his mother in France. However, Cica all the letters of children placed in a drawer, because they, in fact, no one to send. In the orphanage comes a new director Mirza (Mirsad Tuka), a young and capable educator who truly wants to help children in their growing up. In addition to the orphanage is shop owned by Šento (Dragan Marinković). For him, the children from the orphanage steal expensive stuff. After a botched robbery jewelers, police perform investigation and Alen, fearing that it does not reveal that he was in a robbery, trying to get to their files, actually addresses of his mother, as he left the orphanage and went to her.^{[1][7][8][9][10]}

Cast and characters

• Tony Grga as Alen Domić, the main character, boy from the orphanage
• Mirsad Tuka as Mirza Alijagić, director of the orphanage
• Mira Furlan as Cica, educator
• Mirela Lambić as Amila, Alen's mother
• Dragan Marinković as Šento, shop owner, a criminal
• Meto Jovanovski as Gago, former director of the orphanage
• Zijah Sokolović as Muamer, Amila's husband
• Žan Marolt as guard
• Faketa Salihbegović-Avdagić as cook
• Ejla Tarakčija-Bavčić as mrs. Tufekčić
• Nermin Omić as mr. Tufekčić
• Alma Terzić as Zana, girl from the orphanage
• Haris Burina as Mehmed, salesman
• Alen Goro as youngster, Muamer's son
• Ivana Petrović as girl, Muamer's daughter^[1]
• Rijad Mašović-Riči as drug dealer
• Alija Aljović as policeman
• Nela Dženisijević as policewoman

Awards

• 2010 The Pula Film Festival – Golden Arena for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Tony Grga)
• 2010 The Pula Film Festival – FEDEORA Award for Best Achievement in Directing^[11]
• 2011 The See a Paris Film Festival – Award for Best Achievement in Directing^[12]
• 2011 The Festroia Film Festival – Award for Best First Feature^[13]
• 2011 The Cinema City Film Festival – Special Prize FIPRESCI^[14]
• 2011 The Balkan New Film Festival – Best Picture^[15]

Reception

The Abandoned is the first feature film of Bosnian director Adis Bakrač. The main character, boy Tony Grga won the Golden Arena for Best Actor in a Leading Role at Pula Film Festival.^[16] In the film starring famous actress Mira Furlan, who is world-famous playing in the famous Hollywood series Lost and Babylon 5, which were awarded an Emmy and a Golden Globe, as in the films awarded at numerous international film festivals, including the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, and has achieved a prominent role in the film directed by Sergio Castellitto Twice Born with Emile Hirsch and Oscar-winner Penélope Cruz. In the role of Muamer appears bright Zijah Sokolović.

The film quickly gained huge popularity and success and was well received by audience and critics, and has recorded a large profit at the box office in Bosnia and Herzegovina and worldwide.^[17] It leaves a strong impression on viewers due to extremely heavy theme and story that talk about the consequences of war and the children arising rape, arising out of hate, not love, and therefore the film rated exceptionally high by audience and critics.

Alissa Simon from the most influential world film and theater magazine and portal, American Variety based in Los Angeles (Hollywood) and New York (Broadway), the film assess remarkable achievement, especially because it sends an important message, which is that children and women are also suffering in the war.^[18]

Screenwriter Zlatko Topčić describes the film The Abandoned as a "look at the Bosnian war through the eyes of a boy who was born not as the fruit of love, but of hatred, and is part of a whole new people, nameless and unwanted, whose mothers were raped, and the search for identity, the search for his biological parents, who, each with his or her own reasons, do not want him – him, clean, sinless, innocent in everything, uninvolved in the sins of other."^[19]

The film has experienced huge success abroad. It was screened at many most prestigious international film festivals around the world. Some of the most important are: Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Pula Film Festival,^[20] Amiens International Film Festival, See a Paris Film Festival, Haifa International Film Festival, Alexandria International Film Festival, Ljubljana International Film Festival, St. Louis International Film Festival^[21] and many others. Its US premiere had at the prestigious Santa Barbara International Film Festival (California).^[22][23][24] It was screened at festivals in the Czech Republic, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden, Israel, Croatia, Egypt,^[25] France, Serbia and United States.

See also

• Film
• Lists of films
• List of Bosnia and Herzegovina films

References

External links

• The Abandoned at the Internet Movie Database