Quo vadis, Aida?

2020 Directed by Jasmila Žbanić

The true story of a translator attempting to save the lives of her husband and sons during the Bosnian genocide.

Jasna Đuričić Izudin Bajrović Boris Ler Dino Bajrović Boris Isaković Emir Hadžihafizbegović Raymond Thiry Johan Heldenbergh Joes Brauers Reinout Bussemaker Teun Luijkx Ermin Sijamija Alban Ukaj Rijad Gvozden Juda Goslinga Ermin Bravo Sanne den Hartogh Micha Hulshof Sol Vinken Emina Muftić Merima Lepić Jovan Živanović Sanela Krsmanović Job Raaijmakers Nusmir Muharemović Alija Aljević Damir Mahmutović Dražen Pavlović

Alternative Title

Куда ты идешь, Аида?

war drama

101 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Muhammad Ridho Sucipto ★★★★½

Based on true event, film ini mampu mengisahkan sebuah narasi yang kuat dan emosional. Bukan hanya Aida sendiri yang digentayangi waktu dan tuntutan hidup serta pekerjaan, namun kita akan dibawa kepada atmosfir yang benar - benar kelam. Bukan hanya Aida yang menjadi penerjemah di film ini, film ini mampu menerjemahkan tingkat Horror dalam film ini dengan eksplorasi situasi yang cukup sulit.
Karakterisasi terhadap Aida yang benar - benar realistis dan tergopoh - gopoh membuat kita merasa film ini benar - benar natural dalam pembawaannya. Aktor - aktor yang memerankan peran krusial dalam film genosida ini pun membantu Aida untuk menghidupkan filmnya.
Sebagai salah satu isu kemanusiaan yang termutakhir dan akan menjadi diskursus dal hukum humaniter internasional, sangat sayang jika film…
Review by Jonathan White ★★★★★ 4

TIFF 2020 Film #10
Note: If you have no idea what went down in Bosnia in 1995, then maybe skip this review.

Bosnians: UN, please help us, they’re killing us!!!
UN: Don’t worry, we’ve given them an ultimatum - withdraw or be bombed with air strikes
Some time later ….
Bosnians: They’re at the gate!!!! What about the air strikes???!!!
UN: Sorry, everyone is on vacation
Bosnians:
Some time later …
Bosnians: THEY’RE IN THE CITY … THEY’RE MURDERING US … WHAT ABOUT THE AIR STRIKES?????!!!!!!
UN: Well, we can’t afford to piss off the Serbs.
Bosnians:
Serb Army : We are going to take the population away on busses and mur … er, relocate them.
UN: Can we help?
Review by Nicolò Grasso ★★★★½

Quick notes from Venice: powerful, emotional, heart-breaking, and still relevant. Masterfully made real-life drama with a terrific central performance and a lot of subdued thrills. The first great film of this edition.
Review by Trevor Wang ★★★★

Quo vadis, Aida? is an incredibly powerful and touching drama based on true events when 8,372 Bosniak men and boys were slaughtered in Srebrenica during the Bosnian genocide.
Director Jasmila Žbanić tells the story of Aida, a middle-aged English teacher and translator taking shelter in a United Nations military base guarded by Dutch peacekeepers, and scrambles to protect her husband and two sons from the Serbian army, which ignores a UN ultimatum and relentlessly shells the besieged civilians. The situation escalates when Republika Srpska army commander Ratko Mladić arrives, the UN's protection crumbles, and the refugees are left as lambs to be slaughtered.
Quo Vadis, Aida? is shocking and impressive to depict the courage and resilience of Aida when confronted…
Review by Daffa Akhmad ★★★★½ 2

The only film about genocide I've ever watched before this was Schindler's List. And now after I've watched this, I can surely say that Quo Vadis, Aida? is more terrifying than the prior. With its tight duration, we're not getting served with blatant torture and exploitation, but instead the bickering of those in power who's actually only used as pions by the more powerful position. These levels of jobdesks are sickening and torturing, or from what this film implied: threatening people's lives. If I may quote a review from Alexandra Heller-Nicholas from AWFJ:
"Immersing us deeply in a world of bureaucratic chaos where the human cost of a complete administrative failure is made explicit."
(Watched at New Horizons International Film Festival 2020)
Review by rendha taurusta ★★★★½ 6

baru tahu tentang pembantaian Srebrenica, salah satu tragedi tergelap dalam sejarah Eropa modern. sejauh ini film paling powerful sekaligus heartbreaking yang aku tonton tahun ini. sungkem buat tante Jasna Ðuričić dan tante Jasmila Žbanić. ✊🏿💕
Review by Rigo Ayala ★★★★

Recuerdo cuando en la prepa la maestra de historia nos hablo de este suceso, y siempre hacia incapié en como Europa volteó hacia otro lado para deslindarse de cualquier responsabilidad. Y pues eso, aquí hay un fiel reflejo de eso y como la humanidad se esfuerza día tras día en dar perro asco, priorizando muchas veces lo que no importa. Ahora, la película siempre logra el equilibrio entre su mismo relato, el drama personal de la protagonismo y el terror colectivo de la situación. La última media hora deja una serie de preguntas bastante interesantes para la reflexión en lo que, probablemente, las respuestas no sean en lo absoluto esperanzadoras; justamente, eso es lo que encumbra aún más la película, colocándola al menos en mi opinión, como una de las mejores del año.
Review by Cinemalinea ★★★★

Pada Juli 1995 terjadi sebuah pembantaian kejam terhadap lebih dari 8000 pria Bosniaks (Muslim Bosnia) di Srebrenica, Bosnia Herzegovina oleh pasukan Republik Srpska Serbia yang dipimpin Jenderal Ratko Mladić. Genosida ini disebut sebagai pembunuhan massal terbesar di Eropa semenjak Perang Dunia II. Konflik ini terjadi karena perbedaan etnis yang memiliki tujuannya sendiri, mereka tidak bisa disatukan hingga menyebabkan bentrok. Belum lagi letak Bosnia yang strategis di tengah-tengah Yugoslavia yang membuat Serbia ingin merebutnya. Di dalam film ini, Jenderal Ratko Mladić dengan gamblang menyebutkan jika invasi ini merupakan hadiah untuk warganya.

Quo Vadis, Aida? mengisahkan tentang seorang bernama Aida yang berprofesi sebagai penerjemah untuk PBB, menjadi jembatan komunikasi untuk PBB kepada pasukan Serbia yang akan menyerang umat Muslim. Beberapa ribu Bosniaks…
Review by Katrina ★★★★★

the way this film handled the portrayal of the genocide with care that it never did glorify the gruesomeness of it like most films that deal with such tragedy would. the way jasna duricic acts in english and slavic is so masterful she shouldve won the volpi cup in venice if not for vanessa kirby. this film is so intense and emotional it deserves to be seen by everyone.
Review by Matt Neglia ★★★★

QUO VADIS, AIDA?....Wow! What a harrowing film! Jasna Ðuričić superbly plays a UN Translator desperately trying to save her husband & sons during the Bosnian genocide. Urgently paced with horrifying intensity, this gripping war drama packs a devastating & unforgettable gut punch!
Review by Marianna ✨🪐 Neal ★★★★

TIFF 2020: Film #12
Gut-wrenching and brutal, but incredibly important to watch. Jasna Đuričić's performance nearly killed me - she can convey so much with a single look. I can't believe this is the first film I'm seeing about Srebrenica.
Review by Dirwan Gosling ★★★★

Jasmila Zbanic menempuh cara paling intens dan powerful dalam menceritakan kembali sejarah genosida terbesar di eropa pasca WWII, yaitu pembantaian di Srebrenika, Bosnia pada tahun 1995.
it's break my heart 💔

Recent reviews

Review by Orla Smith ★★★★½

Just staggeringly good.
Review by Muhammad Ridho Sucipto ★★★★½

Based on true event, film ini mampu mengisahkan sebuah narasi yang kuat dan emosional. Bukan hanya Aida sendiri yang digentayangi waktu dan tuntutan hidup serta pekerjaan, namun kita akan dibawa kepada atmosfir yang benar - benar kelam. Bukan hanya Aida yang menjadi penerjemah di film ini, film ini mampu menerjemahkan tingkat Horror dalam film ini dengan eksplorasi situasi yang cukup sulit.
Karakterisasi terhadap Aida yang benar - benar realistis dan tergopoh - gopoh membuat kita merasa film ini benar - benar natural dalam pembawaannya. Aktor - aktor yang memerankan peran krusial dalam film genosida ini pun membantu Aida untuk menghidupkan filmnya.
Sebagai salah satu isu kemanusiaan yang termutakhir dan akan menjadi diskursus dal hukum humaniter internasional, sangat sayang jika film…
Review by Yasha ★★★½

Real life drama. Wonderfully shot, well acted. Makes some good points about people in power trying to mediate between multiple parties (the UN response).
Review by Tamara ★★★★

I'm just a piano player.
Devastating. I like that, although «Quo vadis, Aida?» tells a very personal story, the film also focuses on how the UN is a complete nonentity.
Review by Azar Widadsyah ★★★★½

What a heart-wrenching, brutally raw, and catashtropic emotions. We might argue about the moral grounds of the characters et cetera - but voila! That's genocide for us.
Review by Alex Simeon ★★★★½

stuck in a standstill situation processing everything that happened after finishing the film. my heart sank deep and it took a big hit when those gunshot sounds were heard.
Quo Vadis, Aida? is a harrowing and powerful film about the events that lead to the tragic Srebrenica Genocide through the eyes of Bosnian UN Translator, Aida. The film packs a punch with the gripping story, and the fantastic performance of Jasna Đuričić. a must watch!
i read up a bit about Srebrenica Genocide after watching this because i completely had no clue in all honesty about this, from the failure of the UN to the massacre to the women & children that were raped and abused to the bodies that are…
Review by Cláudio Alves ★★★★½

QUO VADIS, AIDA? is an anxiety attack in the form of a historical tragedy. A nerve-wracking nightmare whose bloody destination is a known horror to whoever has a passing knowledge of the Bosnian genocide, it still manages to build suspense from its characters' ultimate fates.
Jasna Djuricic is sublime, utterly heart-wrenching as a woman trying to make sense of the UN's deadly inaction and save her family. One often feels as if she's the only sober person in a hellish landscape full of willful dummies. Watching her was horrifyingly breathtaking.
In the end, I wanted to scream. Scream until my throat was hoarse, bloody. The lack of international intervention during the Bosnian war is a heinous unforgivable chapter of history. This film crystallized the crime with painful cinematic potency.
Review by Sean Boelman ★★★½

It might be overhype, but I found this to be just good, not great. If one knows any of the historical context (or at least enough Latin to translate the title), it's clear from the beginning that this is a literal death march. However, instead of anxiety, this caused a feeling of defeat. The performances are excellent, and the cinematography and score are strong, but the script felt like an hour and forty minutes of discussing protocol. As a result, this isn't quite as affecting as a movie about the Bosnian genocide should be.
Review by andrew t ★★★★

An all-around solid war tragedy. If you're unfamiliar with the genocide of Bosnian Muslims in the 1990s, don't worry, as the film provides just enough context without the first act being full exposition. The cold, stark cinematography and shot choices work really well for the story. At the movie's center is a fantastic lead performance by Jasna Đuričić, who makes her character's myopic focus on protecting her family understandable and sympathetic, even as she puts herself and others in danger by doing so. Her being an interpreter for the UN was a great choice to be able to tell this story from both perspective of the "high level," inept peacekeepers and the grounded, desperate Bosnians.
Notes from a discussion with…
Review by paola ★★★★½

q&a with director jasmila žbanić
an incredibly important and powerful film. best film of 2020
Review by Andrew Jones ★★★★½

Like Son of Saul before it, we know this cannot end well, and yet we hope. Seeing the days before genocidal violence, knowing that these people were classmates, lovers and friends for there entire lives makes the tragedy all the more pronounced. Watching the conflict from the eyes of the translator allows for the illusion of hope, as she is both victim and observer. Yet she knows she struggles in vain. She speaks the very violence that dooms her family, but is without the power to change those words.
The horror of seeing a bureaucratic machine fail to prevent suffering when that’s all it’s there to do is a level of evil that is impossible to understate. It’s not cheap,…
Review by Brayan de Jesús ★★★★

Quo Vadis Aida is a painful recreation of the Srebrenica genocide. In this film, the story is focused on Aida, an UN translator, as she tries to saved her family from the Serb soldiers. It is a race against time and a recompilation of failures committed by the UN. This story is a good example of how the UN only have symbolic power and have limited power to really protect citizens. The performance of Jasna Duricic is what makes this story so emotional and investing. Through her reactions, the feelings of Aida are palpable as she tries to do everything to safe her husband and sons. Overall, it is a really good movie that tell a dark chapter in history in an accessible and memorable way.