The Abandoned (2010 film)

The Abandoned (Bosnian: Ostavljeni) is a 2010 Bosnian film by Bosnian director Adis Bakrač. The film stars Mira Furlan, Tony Grga, Mirsad Tuka, Mirela Lambić, Dragan Marinković, Meto Jovanovski and Zijah Sokolović and was written by Bosnian writer and screenwriter Zlatko Topčić. The film was a Croatian-French co-production.

The Abandoned is the story of a boy from an home for abandoned children who tries to find out the truth about his origins.^[2]

The film premiered at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival^[3][4][5] on 8 July 2010, and was released to cinemas throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina on 7 December 2010.^[6]

Plot

The story starts in Bosnian woods in 1993, when a women gives birth to a baby boy, and the film then jumps to 2007, to a children's home in Sarajevo which is home to thirteen-year-old boy, Alen (Tony Grga). The former director of the home, Gago (Meto Jovanovski) had told Alen that his mother was French, and his father was an Englishman who met as war reporters in Sarajevo and due to war and professional obligations had temporarily left him in the home.

Alen writes letters to his mother and gives them to educator Cica (Mira Furlan), to be sent to his mother in France. However, Cica places all the letters of children in a drawer, because there is in fact, no one to send them to. A new director Mirza (Mirsad Tuka), who is a young and capable educator comes to the home.

Near to the home is a shop owned by Šento (Dragan Marinković), from him, the children are stealing expensive stuff. After a botched robbery jewelers, police perform investigation and Alen, fearing that it does not reveal that he was in a robbery, trying to get to their files, actually addresses of his mother, as he left the home and went to her.^{[1][7][8][9][10]}

Cast and characters

• Tony Grga as Alen Domić, the main character, boy from the children's home
• Mirsad Tuka as Mirza Alijagić, director of the home
• Mira Furlan as Cica, educator
• Mirela Lambić as Amila, Alen's mother
• Dragan Marinković as Šento, shop owner, a criminal
• Meto Jovanovski as Gago, former director of the home
• Zijah Sokolović as Muamer, Amila's husband
• Žan Marolt as guard
• Faketa Salihbegović-Avdagić as cook
• Ejla Tarakčija-Bavčić as mrs. Tufekčić
• Nermin Omić as mr. Tufekčić
• Alma Terzić as Zana, girl from the home
• Haris Burina as Mehmed, salesman
• Alen Goro as youngster, Muamer's son
• Ivana Petrović as girl, Muamer's daughter^[1]
• Rijad Mašović-Riči as drug dealer
• Alija Aljović as policeman
• Nela Dženisijević as policewoman

Awards

• 2010 The Pula Film Festival – Golden Arena for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Tony Grga)
• 2010 The Pula Film Festival – FEDEORA Award for Best Achievement in Directing^[11]
• 2011 The See a Paris Film Festival – Award for Best Achievement in Directing^[12]
• 2011 The Festroia Film Festival – Award for Best First Feature^[13]
• 2011 The Cinema City Film Festival – Special Prize FIPRESCI^[14]
• 2011 The Balkan New Film Festival – Best Picture^[15]

Reception

Tony Grga, who played the boy Alen, won the Golden Arena for Best Actor in a Leading Role at Pula Film Festival.^[16]

The film was well received by audience and critics, and has recorded a large profit at the box office in Bosnia and Herzegovina and worldwide.^[17]

Alissa Simon of Variety described the film as a " well-meaning but overdone melodrama" which was "Sometimes clunky and cliched, other times genuinely affecting".^[18]

The film has been screened at film festivals including Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Pula Film Festival,^[19] Amiens International Film Festival, See a Paris Film Festival, Haifa International Film Festival, Alexandria International Film Festival, Ljubljana International Film Festival, St. Louis International Film Festival^[20] and others. Its US premiere was at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival (California).^[21][22][23] It was screened at festivals in the Czech Republic, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden, Israel, Croatia, Egypt,^[24] France, Serbia and United States.

See also

• Film
• Lists of films
• List of Bosnia and Herzegovina films

References

External links

• The Abandoned on IMDb