Sabina Vajrača (born 30 May 1977) is an American

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

, and

film producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...

. Vajraća is best known for having directed and produced the 2005 Bosnian documentary '' Back to Bosnia''.

Biography

Sabina Vajrača was born to a

Bosniak The Bosniaks ( bs, Bošnjaci, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who share a common Bosnian ancestry, cu ...

family in

Banja Luka Banja Luka ( sr-Cyrl, Бања Лука, ) or Banjaluka ( sr-Cyrl, Бањалука, ) is the second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the largest city of Republika Srpska. Banja Luka is also the ''de facto'' capital of this entity. I ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

, which then a part of the

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

, where she lived until the

Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( sh, Rat u Bosni i Hercegovini / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The war is commonly seen as having started ...

started in 1992. She started her artistic life as a poet and a short-story writer, completing her first novel at ten years of age. It involved a girl, a dog and a boy who saves the world. It was a huge hit among her friends. By thirteen she had read all the books available at her local children's library and she persuaded the librarian to give her a card for the adult branch. Around the same time she decided to become a film director. She made plans to attend the

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

Film School and eventually win an Oscar. At the age of fourteen she found herself on a losing side of a war. With one suitcase and a book under her arm she left her home, her family and her plans behind. She was never to see most of the people she knew thus far again. She spent the next two years in

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. It was there that, at sixteen, she saw her first play. She decided then and there to spend the rest of her life in theatre. Desperate to start as soon as possible, she turned to one thing she knew she could do – write, and founded a theatre magazine Teatralije with four of her friends. She made plans to attend the Academy of Dramatic Arts in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

and eventually work for the national theatre. Two years later she was standing in

Tampa International Airport Tampa International Airport is an international airport west of Downtown Tampa, in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States. The airport is publicly owned by Hillsborough County Aviation Authority (HCAA)., effective December 30, 2021. T ...

, holding a distinct blue and white refugee bag. Sabina currently lives in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Film

*'' Back To Bosnia'' – 2005 *''Apparition'' (2009) *''Smoking Kills'' (2011) *'' Sevap / Mitzvah'' (2023) *''Summer Abroad'' (planned)

Television

*Generations Matter (ESPN)Vimeo
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vajraca, Sabina 1977 births Living people American film directors American film producers Muslims from New York (state) American screenwriters American women film directors Bosnia and Herzegovina Muslims Bosnia and Herzegovina emigrants to the United States Bosniaks of Bosnia and Herzegovina People from Banja Luka