A BALLAD

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.