''Warchild'' or ''Stille Sehnsucht'' is a 2006 film directed by

Christian Wagner Christian Wagner is an American Film editing, film editor who has edited films such as ''Face/Off'' (1997) and ''Mission: Impossible 2'' (2000). He is also best known collaborating numerous times with film director Tony Scott, from the films ''T ...

. It tells the story of a Bosnian woman, Senada, who is determined to find her daughter, who was taken into other people's care during the Bosnian War and ended up in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. ''Warchild'' was filmed in a number of locations in Germany, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

. The film is in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

and Bosnian. It won two awards and was nominated for a further two.

Plot

Labina Mitevska Labina Mitevska ( mk, Лабина Митевска) (born 1975 in Skopje, Socialist Republic of Macedonia, Yugoslavia) is a Macedonian actress. Career Mitevska began her acting career aged 19 after studying in Skopje, Denmark, and the Univ ...

stars as Senada, a young mother whose only daughter Aida was removed from Bosnia-Herzegovina during the worst years of the war and presumably adopted into a

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

an family. Searching for her after the war, Senada enters illegally into Germany, where she discovers through a social worker the harsh truth of postwar adoption: Aida is alive and well and living happily with a German family. Dark secrets emerge, leaving no one unscathed in this expertly crafted, superbly performed drama.

The theme of war

''Warchild'' is set against the background of the Bosnian War. However, Wagner (''Wallers last Trip/Transatlantis/Ghetto Kids'') wanted to tell a universally recognisable story that would bring home to viewers the impact of

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

on ordinary people's lives. It is a story about a mother's search for her child after the war but it is also a story about dislocation, as adults and children everywhere face the consequences of separation, relocation and

migration Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...

''Balkan Blues Trilogy''

''Warchild'' belongs to German filmmaker Christian Wagner's ''Balkan Blues Trilogy,'' which begins with a

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

, ''Zita,'' and continues with ''Alcatrash,'' currently in production. The three films are connected to the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

and reflect Wagner's interest in the movement of peoples throughout

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

Awards and Screenings

''Warchild'' is the second installment of Wagner's ''Balkan Blues Trilogy.'' It features Labina Mitevska ('' Before the Rain'') and

Katrin Sass Katrin Sass (, for a time Katrin Saß) is a German actress. She became known internationally for playing the idealistic socialist mother Christiane Kerner in the 2003 tragicomedy ''Good Bye, Lenin!'' Biography She was born in Schwerin, in th ...

(''

Good Bye, Lenin! ''Good Bye Lenin!'' is a 2003 German tragicomedy film, directed by Wolfgang Becker. The cast includes Daniel Brühl, Katrin Sass, Chulpan Khamatova, and Maria Simon. The story follows a family in East Germany (GDR); the mother (Sass) is dedic ...

''). It had its international premiere at the 2006

Montreal World Film Festival The Montreal World Film Festival (WFF; french: le Festival des Films du Monde) was one of Canada's oldest international film festivals and the only competitive film festival in North America accredited by the FIAPF (although the Toronto Interna ...

. It won the award for best screenplay. ''Warchild'' has won a number of other awards, including the

Bavarian Film Awards The Bavarian Film Awards (german: Bayerischer Filmpreis) have been awarded annually since 1979 by the state government of Bavaria in Germany for “exceptional achievement in German filmmaking.” Along with the German Film Awards, these are th ...

(Special Jury Prize), Best Screenplay Montreal 2006, Audience Award Portoroz, and the Golden Olive Tree & Special Audience Award 2007 at the European Filmfestival/Lecce. Shown at about 50 international

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upo ...

s, the film is a German and Slovenian co-production by Wagnerfilm, Munich and Studio Maj, Ljubljana. It was funded by MFG/ FilmFernsehFonds Bayern/BKM/Filski Sklad Slovenia/EURIMAGES.

Notes

External links

* 2006 films Bosnian War films 2000s war drama films German war drama films 2006 drama films 2000s German films {{war-drama-film-stub