Snow

Aida Begics' first feature portrays one of the darkest chapters from the history of her homeland: the ethnic cleansing of Muslims and Croatians by their Bosnian Serbian neighbours at the time of the war in Yugoslavia. Begic did not film the war itself, but the equally difficult period that followed for the many mothers, widows and orphans. They have lost their children, husbands and fathers and often don't know if or where they died. They are strong, however, in their decision to carry on with life, even though they feel the scars every day.
Snow tells the story of a small mountain village where the women have to depend on each other more than ever. They are forced to accept mutual differences in order to start working towards a new future. When project developers want to buy their land, they decide to resist.
Begic confronts powerful characters with each other in a serene yet relentless landscape. The director lifts the actors' natural acting to a metaphysical level by adding a subtle magic realism to the harsh everyday battle of the characters. Begic researched among many war widows and saw an awareness of higher powers as a general phenomenon that keeps the women going. The snow is the most pure example of this. (LC)