A Ballad

Balada

63rd TIFF: International Premiere

A Ballad follows 30-year-old unambitious Meri, a housewife and a mother of an 8-year-old girl Mila, whose 14 years older husband Hasan throws her out of their home in a fit of jealous rage. After returning to her parents’ home without her daughter, whom Hasan decided to keep, Meri realizes she is trapped in a wicked circle of provincial laws and rules, and her family’s needs and ambitions. Trying to find herself, Meri auditions for a film that is to be shot in the neighborhood. Adapted from a famous South Slavic folk ballad, this optimistic exploration of love, freedom, and art, renders in cinema the tumbling pathos of a slow, emotive song. Through the rhythmical transition between realistic sequences and more experimental interludes, and from comical confrontations to moments of contemplation, the film invites us to follow the pace of a beating heart.

Screening Schedule

No physical screenings scheduled.

Direction: Aida Begić

Script: Aida Begić

Cinematography: Erol Zubčević

Editing: Redžinald Šimek

Sound: Igor Čamo

Actors: Marija Pikić, Jasna Žalica, Slaven Vidak, Enes Kozličić, Lana Stanišić, Milan Tocinovski, Amar Čustović, Davor Golubović, Gaia Tanović

Production: Film House Sarajevo

Producers: Adis Đapo, Aida Begić, Erol Zubčević

Costumes: Sanja Džeba

Sets: Emina Kujundžić

Make Up: Lamija Hadžihasanović Homarac

Format: DCP

Color: Color

Production Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina, France

Production Year: 2022

Duration: 116΄

Contact: SCCA/pro.ba

Aida Begić

Aida Begic was born in Sarajevo in 1976. Her debut feature Snijeg (Snow) won the Critics’ Week Grand Prix at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. One year later, she set up an independent production company called Film House. Her second film Djeca (Children of Sarajevo) was shown in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, where it was awarded the Special Distinction of the Jury prize. She both wrote and directed the short film Album, which forms a segment of the Bridges of Sarajevo documentary. Aida Begić is a professor at the Academy of Performing Arts Sarajevo. Her third film Never Leave Me, about Syrian orphans, has been shown at various festivals around the world, collecting several awards. A Ballad is her fourth film.