This film, although often difficult to watch, is an unflinching look at ethnic internment during the Bosnian War. There is little dialogue, and the film's message is conveyed through a variety of techniques, the first of which is lighting. Before the war, Samira (the main character) is framed with natural light, soft tones, and sunlit backgrounds. After her capture and subsequent internment, the lighting becomes stark and harsh. The main actress, Natacha Petrovic, is also able to convey Samira's thoughts and feelings through her carefully calculated facial expressions. The lack of dialogue allows the viewer to interpret much of the story, and also avoids contrived/overstated dialogue. The director is not Bosnia, but she seems to be intuitive and sensitive in presenting the material so that it does not feel exploitative. She also does not explicitly mention which ethnic group in interned and which group is interning (as it were), which is an excellent choice in that it allows for a wider variety of experiences to be represented. Although it is hinted that this specific film focuses on Bosnian Muslims being interned by Serbs, there is some wiggle room for other groups to be included as well.

As If I Am Not There is an extremely powerful film which accurately portrays life in a camp during a period of conflict. The film also confronts the narrative that all victims must be the "perfect victim" in order to receive sympathy. Set in the Bosnian countryside during the Bosnian War, the film does not shield the viewer from any of the horrors of the war. Several sequences within the film such as the scene depicting the routine killing of men of fighting age are incredibly difficult to watch. When the women are held at the camp, they are subject to numerous humiliation tactics, and several are sexually exploited. While the scenes are difficult to watch, they are representative of what a normal woman's experience within a camp would be like. The gravity of the scenes is aided by the lack of dialogue and the impressive performance by Natasa Petrovic, the lead actress. The lack of dialogue adds a certain gravity to the experiences of the women as there is very little that can be said about their experience; it can only be expressed through action. Petrovic performance demonstrates the impact conflicts have upon civilians, in particular victims of rape. She is able to convey feeling of both vulnerability and intense fear through her expressive body language and facial expressions. During her period of internment, Petrovic's character Samira has to make difficult decisions about what actions she must take in order to survive. Samira engages in survival sex with the captain who runs her internment camp which is a decision heavily scrutinized by her fellow captives. This part of the film demonstrates that in order to survive in internment camp one usually has to engage in some morally questionable practices. Many Hollywood films which attempt to portray life within camps often portray the victim as both helpless and blameless. As If I Am Not There allows for the viewer to have a greater understanding of the moral dilemmas that emerge within the camp setting. Lastly, the film ends on an extremely powerful and profound note. While most films about surviving atrocities end on uplifting sentiments that supposedly speak to the strength of the human spirit, As If I Am Not There displays how one is permanently impacted by a camp experience. Samira has escaped Bosnia, but the war remains ever present in her life and directly impacts all of her experiences. The ending shows that intense trauma never really fades and leaves the viewer emotionally unsettled.

As someone else here already said, this is not entertainment cinema. In my opinion it's not even a film in the usual way. Samira a young, well protected and maybe a little naive teacher from Sarajevo leaves her loving family to work in rural village. Shortly after she arrived, war starts and soldiers take her and all the other women captive. As in many wars, the younger women are picked out, locked up separately and are raped, tortured and humiliated. Men are killed, children die, Samira is in constant shock and unable to react.The director is able to give you the feeling of being part of the movie, of nearly being part of the group of women with their fears. There is not much music and also spoken dialog is rare. This movie lives completely from the realistic atmosphere, so much that I had times I was totally frozen and could't breathe. Some scenes are nearly unbearable and I started crying without even noticing it.Yes, we have all heard that it is common in war situations that women are raped from enemy soldiers but this movie showed me that I never gave a real thought about what that actually means. This movie transports the feeling to you one-to-one and it's really hard to stomach. Natasha Petrovic transports her emotions directly to you, without words, mostly with her eyes and her face is really haunting you. If you dare to open yourself emotionally to her character you can feel the fear yourself. Also the end, when Samira comes to Sweden as a refugee, pregnant from rape, all her family dead, completely alone into a country which language she can't speak made me think a lot about how many women must have felt and feel in such situations. I how and if i would cope.This movie is important, because it shows how quickly things can change in war situations, how happy those of us must be who live in peaceful countries and how extremely important it is to keep the peace by all possible means. Absolute recommendation - if you dare!

Set is 1990s, it depicts the true stories reveled during the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague of the Bosnian War. Samira (Natasa Petrovic) is a schoolteacher in Sarajevo who takes a job in a small country village just as the war is starting to ramp up. The Serbian soldiers swamped the village and kill all the men and keep women, older as laborers and the younger ones as sex objects. Samira goes through the kinky treatment and her relationship with the Captain (Fedja Stukan) leads her to an atrocious life.The humiliation of the women during the war was brutal and sickening; it has been presented very finely which will shake your moral grounds. The endurance and cruelty become synonyms; it is rather the most dehumanizing and vindictive.Natasa Petrovic delivers one of the finest and hard-hitting performance you will ever encounter. The direction is extraordinary, you will be compelled to engross with the story and settings of the war tragedies. The emotion ruptures its own soul and you find yourself in somewhat disturbing situation. A film that is thought provoking and depicts cruelest side of the human beingMy Vote 9/10