Savrsen krug (Perfect Circle) is the first Bosnian feature film since Bosnia became a sovereign and independent state in 1992, and I am pleased that it will open the Directors' Fortnight. It is a bitter-sweet story of ordinary people and the unusual love that springs among them, albeit reluctantly. My film is not about the war, the war is only in the background," explains Ademir Kenovic, the director.
"The first script was written before the war and the shooting was envisaged for the spring of 1992. But it was then that the war broke out, so we changed the script to reflect the new circumstances.
"We started filming in February 1996, when the peace treaty had already been signed in Dayton, Ohio, but you could still feel the tension - there was still a war-like atmosphere in the air. Our effort was a reconstruction of the events, the memories and the atmosphere of the war. We were told that the film gives the impression of a documentary of the everyday life in war-torn Sarajevo." Kenovic also tells me, to my astonishment, that there is a scene in the film that refers my departure with my husband from the besieged city of Sarajevo.
Abdulah Sidran (a poet and screenwriter whose credits include the Cannes winner When Father was Away on Business) and Kenovic worked on the script for four months during the war, in the midst of the worst days of Serbian assault on Sarajevo.
Perfect Circle is a poignant film about two young boys (aged nine and seven) who, after losing their parents, find refuge in the house of a Sarajevan poet in the first year of war. The story depicts the life of the boys and the middle-aged poet as they learn to live together, and love one another. The world premiere of the film was in Sarajevo's Apollo cinema on 2 May this year.
As for future projects, Kenovic is laconic, saying only that he would like to make his next movie under "normal" circumstances.
Damjana Finci
Prod co: Dokument Sarajevo, Parnasse International, Argus
Filmproduktie
Prod: Sylvan Burztejn, Dana Rotberg, Peter Van Vogelpoel
Dir: Ademir Kenovic
Scr: Ademir Kenovic, Abdulah Sidran
Ph: Milenko Uherka
Cos: Sanja Djeba
Ed: Christel Tanovic
Cast: Mustafa Nadarevic, Almedin Leleta, Almir Podgorica
Running time: 110 mins
International sales: Film de Losange
