User Reviews

This is certainly a harrowing film to watch, but an incredibly important one as well. The depiction of Samira's life in the detention camp during the Bosnian War is emotional and raw. The film gives an accurate illustration of Bosnia in the early 1990's, and the actors and actresses in the film show a true representation of the lives of people in these detention camps. The relationships in this film are incredibly complex as well. Samira is notably involved with the captain of the Serbian forces that are holding these women in detainment. After being raped by Serbian men she is doing the best she can to survive in this situation. This form of "survival sex" is a representative aspect of camp life. Though excruciatingly difficult to watch, Samira's role in the film brings into question a larger discussion about morality and strength. Through the figure of the captain the viewer is able to discern that pain is not just physical, there is a wide spectrum of hardship that these women faced in the camp. Psychological pain was just as real, if not more so. Despite the fact that Samira is choosing to form a sexual relationship with the captain, there is no consent here. Some of the women disagree with her decision, finding it to be morally questionable. But this brings one to wonder, where is the role of morality in the camp setting? If the victims don't even have it, who does? It seems paradoxical that morality itself can even exist in such a setting. Despite these harder questions, there is certainly an omnipotent display of strength of Samira's part. In many ways she will never leave the camp. This experience will remain with her for the rest of her life. The film gives a viewer a glimpse of that as we watch Samira try to assimilate once more back into "real life." A task she may never fully surmount, as she must now take care of her child who she conceived with the captain. Will her strength be derived from taking care of this child who will forevermore remind her of her horrific experience? Or must it come from her resilience once more? The film wonderfully depicts the complexity of the human emotions and experiences both inside and outside of the camp. A difficult task to undertake, especially if it is to be done right. Overall the film does a great job of playing with these complex but critical issues.

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 being

My Vote 9/10

This movie doesn't hold back from showing in graphic detail the events that occurred in the former Yugoslavia in the detention camps for Muslim women and children.

We see the story from the perspective of Samira. She is from Sarajevo but recently started work as a teacher in a rural village. Soon the war following the break up of Yugoslavia intrudes on the village and all the residents are gathered up by local Serb militia.

There is a great scene as the villagers are gathered in a hall and we see close ups of anxious faces of men and women, guessing at what will happen to the men. Our guesses are proved correct after they are taken into the woods.

The women are brought to a camp. Again our minds speculate what might happen to them and we are again proved right. Samira is brought to a special house for "chosen" women. We see what men are capable of in a war situation when they feel they can do anything without fear of punishment. Some scenes are extremely disturbing.

Natasha Petrovic as Samira expresses perfectly, mostly with her eyes, the fear the women are feeling. For the most part this is the women's only way of expression. What use is there in talking when someone else can decide on a whim whether you live or die? Samira and all the women do what they feel they have to survive but even when freedom comes their experiences leave legacies that last the rest of their lives.

The film is based on a novel containing womens stories that emerged from the International War Crimes tribunal trials of suspects from the Yugoslavian wars in the 90's.

A hard film to watch but I'm glad it was made as it reminds us of the reality of what happens to innocents in war.

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!

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.

A theme that is often found throughout camp literature is the continuous impact that a camp experience has on those who have been interned against their will. It is as if the individual does not leave once released - though physically free, their mind remains to some extent trapped by their captors. "As If I Am Not There" displays this truth in heartbreaking fashion, as the audience witnesses the drastic difference between Samira at the beginning of the film, in which she happily runs through the streets of Sarajevo, and the end, in which it is almost impossible to imagine her smile. Natasa Petrovic magnificently pulls the audience in with her expressions during the close-up shots of her face, and we are unable to escape the emotions that she experiences. Scenes in which she feels pain and terror during her internment are very difficult to watch, and the haunted appearance she has at the end is not an image that readily leaves one's mind. As a film which depicts women's wartime experiences, "As If I Am Not There" is a drastically different war story from the gun fights and front line scenes we are all used to. It takes place on a very small scale, in which the world for these women becomes cut down to the size of a factory and adjacent house. These women knew nothing about the state of their families or country during this time, as indicated by their inclinations to jump at rumors of a nearby men's camp, and they rely completely on their captors for food and shelter. Though difficult to witness, "As If I Am Not There" is an important film. It brings the broad topic of camp experiences to the level of an individual human being, and the ending leaves the audience with the unsettling feeling that Samira's pain is never going to end. It is a piece of art which warns us against destruction, and reminds us that the true costs of war are not paid for by governments, but by the individuals who have had their lives ripped apart by events outside their control.

This movie is indeed very hard to watch, but this story does deserve to tell the story of what these women went through. Most of us didnt even know this kind of brutality existed. Its so easy to completely forget about what happens to the women and children during war. Most mainstream movies focus of the soldiers point of view and only touch briefly on what the women endured. Some have never talked about what they went through for fear of being shamed. Others had no choice but to acknowledge what they went through when they were released pregnant. These women had a reminder of what happened to them everytime they laid their eyes on their child. Goes to show the brutality on the victims of war that affect well beyond the end of a war. It affects the child when(or if) they find out the nature of their conception. They were born of brutality and suffering.

This film, although extremely emotionally tolling and difficult to watch, is an important film depicting a women's internment camp during the Bosnian war. The main character, Samira, provides an accurate insight into the struggles facing women in these camps. These insights reach beyond our knowledge of the already terrible rapes and assaults that were so prominent, and give a look at the internal struggles facing these women and the effects of this treatment. The beginning of the film depicts the men being separated from the women, brought outside, and all shot to death. This is such a small, short scene in the film which demonstrated the normalcy of these murderous acts. It was't something the movie had to focus in on, it was clear what was happening and no questions had to be asked. The film then moves on to the main focus: Samira's experience in this dehumanizing camp. The film contains little dialogue, however dialogue is unneeded. Samira's facial expressions, body language and actions are enough to depict the pain and suffering she experiences throughout her time in the camp. In fact, the lack of dialogue is a smart choice on the part of Juanita Wilson because it allows the viewers to feel what Samira must have felt and allows them to throw themselves into her character more than if Samira had just described her feelings in words. It also demonstrates how women in these camps really were forced into silence following the things they had to endure. After the first rape, Samira could barely speak. She struggled to recover from this haunting experience and hid away in silence for a while until she realized that she was a human, not an animal as they saw her, and swore to grasp back onto her "womanhood" by putting on makeup and trying to look nice, something the other women disapproved of. This film also depicts the blurred line of morality in these camps. When Samira starts sleeping with the captain, there is a debate among the other women that she overhears. One says they would do the same thing while the other says it's a disgrace. Samira is doing what she thinks she has to do to survive, no matter how wrong it may be. The dynamic between Samira and the captain is obviously one where the captain has the upper hand. This is clearly still a case of rape because consent cannot exist in a camp such as this. Samira is aware of her lack of power in this situation and the captain is aware that Samira will do anything he tells her to do. The captain is portrayed in a way that could be seen as not completely evil, however the fact that he takes advantage of his power in this way makes him just as bad as any other rapist in that camp. The ending to the movie is another smart choice by Juanita Wilson because it shows that the suffering goes beyond liberation from the camp. Samira will forever see the pain she went through when she looks at her child, and will forever be reminded of who the father was. There is no end to suffering no matter how physically free these survivors are.

"As If I'm Not There" realistically portrays the female-in-combat/camp narrative and the themes that come with it, including enduring the camp experience past its physical confines and a realistic victim who makes questionable choices. Juanita Wilson makes a smart choice to not end the movie when the camp is liberated, instead tracing just the beginning of Samira's hard journey of enduring and "recovering". The journey from camp to liberation in some ways replicates the camp life as it still makes people feel powerless and somewhat like animals. When Samira and the other women have to cross the river and hill to transfer to another set of busses, there is the real possibility that the women could've been shot and killed since they were still at the power of the army men with the guns. When Samira learns that she is pregnant and cannot abort the baby, the infant becomes a physical reminder of the sexual violence she experienced, and we see her struggle to decide whether or not she wants to deal with the pain of the memories of the camp or the pain of the camp plus giving up a baby. Not only that, but the idea of a "perfect victim" is squashed as we realize there may not be just good or just bad people in the world. Samira starts out as the innocent school teacher who moves from the big city to a small village who is then captured by the Serbian army and taken to a rape camp, but we see her egoism when she takes back her sexuality to attract the Captain, one of her captors. The captain himself is portrayed as not necessarily all bad, as he's still a man with a family, even if he may also be a monster. Overall, the main pull of this movie is that the audience gets to experience the realness of how a camp can function as a form of social engineering. While there is little dialogue, we feel every emotion Samira feels through her body language and facial expressions as she is thrown into the worst of situations and must endure, not necessarily overcome. Especially for people who know little about the Balkans in the 1990s or about camps in general, this is a great introduction to the harsh realities people faced and continue to face today. Especially since the lives of women during and post-war are rarely mentioned, this is a powerful piece that deserves more recognition for what it successfully portrays.

This film was viewed at Cambridge Film Festival (UK) - 15 to 25 September 2011

* Contains spoilers *

One usually gets so much of the feel of what a foreign-language film will be from the title that it has been given, and that can be misleading (or just a bad choice), so it is good to know that this one was intended. Obviously, such things should not carry too much weight, but there is the feeling in these words 'How can this be happening to me? How can something so outside my experience be taking place?'

And this film shows a response to that horrible feeling of unreality. Any suggestion, as in another review, that it was just made to have some sort of gruesome residue of appeal that it does not really deserve is just so bizarre as not to merit any real further comment. Things on which this film relies happened (maybe to different people and at different times), and I really struggle to believe that anyone would think the film made just to exploit those people's suffering.

It does not rejoice in that suffering, but shows how the small group of women with whom we end up managed – or chose to manage – in humiliating conditions after their menfolk had just been executed for no crime other than being men, and being from the wrong racial group.

No one depicts rape for its own sake, and here, in the case of Samira (Nastasa Petrovic), it is a vehicle for us to witness her seeking to absent herself from the brutal and disgusting way in which she is being handled – 'treated' is too genteel a word for it. And, of course, there are worse atrocities that could have been committed (and which are visited upon a young girl in a cruel parody of the Christian cross and what it is meant to symbolize), but, for Samira, recently travelled from home and family to a new place where she expects to teach and care for children, this must be unimaginable, unbearable.

When she expects to be raped again, but the soldier shown into her prefers to fall asleep next to her, there is a short moment of respite from the cruelty and dehumanisation, even though, as one of the women selected to satisfy the soldiers, she and they probably have better conditions than the others, with whom we lose contact until much later. For Samira, and for her increasing bravery, the decision comes to be that of staying a woman, of putting on lipstick, and not remaining the unwilling recipient of sex, but asserting her right to be a person, to reject the men's belief in their right to strike and abuse her.

In what I read as a by-product of that assertion, she attracts the attention of the soldiers' Captain (Miraj Grbic), and swaps civilized – but still meaningless – love-making, rather than enforced copulation at the hands of insensitive and brutish men who do not even view her as human. Within the constraints of that role (and in a fine performance), he shows Samira such kindness as he can, but it is all too undeniable – and, at several points, cannot be denied – that they both know that he has every power over her, and that he just chooses to give her some respect, the respect denied to so many of the others from her adoptive village.

The Captian seems partly drawn to her because she is educated, from Sarajevo, and believes in herself – in the ordinary course of the events that Samira could have had no knowledge of being about to unfold she would not have been there. When the painful physical and mental things that, for me, Nastasa Petrovic's acting render totally compelling, with her face seeming like a window through which her disbelief and sense of degradation seem transparent, are over, she cannot even go back to her home city or her family, because it is all gone.

This is a story that needs to be told, but it in no way has that sense of a worthy subject that has been attributed to it – to see where Samira, the woman at the beginning, has come from, to see what has shocked her, traumatized her, and the legacy with which she is left in another country, and with which she seems to take steps to come to terms, is such a powerful piece of individual heroism that it truly offers hope where it feels least likely.

While it is at times extremely troubling to watch, As If I Am Not There is a startlingly realistic depiction of the Bosnian War. From scenes of whole villages being rounded up and the men murdered, to women being raped and brutalized by soldiers in secluded camps, this movie does an excellent job of representing the types of depravity that took place in the early 1990s. Wilson does not base Samira's story on a specific case, but uses her character to represent an amalgamation of testimonies from survivors. In this way, the events of the movie are not necessarily a 100% accurate representation of a single person's experiences, but they include some of the terrible conditions and actions that these survivors had to endure. For instance, the practice of trading sexual acts for better treatment, food, or living conditions was not necessarily unheard of, but was a means of survival, not pleasure. In the film, Samira's relationship with the Captain causes the viewer to question Samira's moral involvement in the despicable treatment of her fellow inmates. In a similar way, Samira's seemingly compliant attitude and lack of opposition to the Serb forces has drawn some criticism for the film. However, in a women's camp where Samira was kept separate from the majority of the other inmates, it is unlikely that this expectation of a rebellion or opposition would have been possible, and could have even led to greater harm. It is difficult to make moral decisions in situations like those portrayed in this film, and I appreciate this realism to a great extent. It is not flashy, or thrilling, but in this way, it avoids over-dramatization that often cheapens the message of similar movies. In addition to the relative accuracy of events, this film also makes an attempt to depict the complexity of the conflict. Throughout the movie, Wilson includes scenes that seem to humanize the Serbian soldiers, and show that these men were not just monsters, but men, friends of brothers, husbands, and fathers. This did not make me any more sympathetic toward their characters, but this effort hints to the multi-faceted nature of this conflict, and attempts to mitigate the antagonism placed on the Serbian army. During the conflict, Bosniak Muslims, Croats, and Serbians were all victims and aggressors, but the Bosnian War is often presented only as a story of Serbian aggressors committing terrifying atrocities against Bosnian Muslims. This perspective is a very significant piece of the history to recognize, but it is important to realize that it is far from black-and-white. Overall, this movie does a tremendous job with communicating this part of history in a powerfully realistic way, and I encourage anyone who is interested in watching it to do so.

History often offers strong accounts of the past. But, it isn't uncommon for one story to be the main narrative while others get left behind and forgotten. That is where the arts can fill in the gaps. In "As If I Am Not There," an unspoken story is shown in a complex and moving way.

Samira, the main character, experiences horrors during her encampment. Victim of multiple rapes by more than a couple assaulters, Samira struggled in finding a way to take ownership of who she was. Many of the women she was imprisoned with responded to their rapes in different ways. Samira, after the first attack, went silent and was in shock. She was so stricken with fear that she simply could not function. Eventually, she transitioned to establishing more control over herself and who she was being victimized by. She tried to be her natural self, wearing makeup and "looking like a woman." Some of her encamped allies judged her for this, saying she sold herself out. Samira got the attention of the Captain and became his next victim. The complexities of their relationship are beyond fathomable. She was in no position to consent, as there is no such thing in a camp. His position of authority and the reminder that he could kill her at any point was surely the driving factor in their relationship. She was obedient to him in exchange for respectable food, whatever she could manage to steal from his house and simply to give her a better chance at surviving the war. This is called "survivor sex" and is most definitely still rape.

Eventually, Samira becomes pregnant and we see the way she looks into the eyes of her child. She could not possibly love her child because of who the father is, and culturally, her family must have been ashamed had they survived the war. War tore her life apart, and changed the course of her life forever. Luckily, she found refugee in a country like Sweden, but she could have been displaced and put in another camp in the outskirts of Sarajevo. The effects of this war have not yet subsided and her experience in the camps, along with the thousands of other victims, will never disappear.

Juanita Wilson's As If I Am Not There is a powerful film, depicting the realities faced by Bosniaks during the Bosnian War. The film does not shy away from the brutal realities of mass murder and rape experienced in the war or from how the camp experience never leaves the survivors after liberation.

While encamped, there is a rumor among the women that a men's camp is nearby; however, this is not the case. As seen at the film's start, the men of the village were slaughtered, and this gendercide of military-aged men was widespread during the war; there would not have been an equivalent men's camp to camps for the women and children as the fathers, husbands, sons, and brothers of these women and children would have been murdered by the Serbian soldiers.

As for the rapes that occur inside of Samira's camp, these were, unfortunately, commonplace in camps during the Bosnian War. The film does well in showing how these women were abused at the hands of their Serbian captors as even children were not exempt from the sexual horrors of the camps. Some viewers might oppose the relationship between Samira and the captain, but it is important to acknowledge that their relationship could not have been consensual as it is impossible for a captor and an encamped person to have a consensual relationship inside of a camp. The captain still has complete control over Samira, and she engages in survival sex to better her own situation in the camp for which people who have never experienced encampment cannot judge her.

This film also did an great job at demonstrating the aftereffects of the camp as it did not stop at the joyous point of liberation. As result of her experience in the rape camp, Samira was left pregnant with a child and seeks out an abortion too far along in the pregnancy, being forced to carry the child full-term. It is evident how affected she is by her camp experience as she struggles to connect with her child, sobbing as she breastfeeds her newborn. The camp experience never ends for survivors; the horrors experienced in a camp will remain with them for the rest of their lives.

One of the main depictions of this film is the struggle of a young woman to survive encampment during the Bosnian war. The Yugoslav state suffered and became divided as Croats declared independence and the Serbians tried to claim what they thought was theirs. THe result was the encampment of Bosnians including the Main character Samira.

Samira is a very interesting character to say the least. Although one might think that Samira is selfish because she cares only about her survival because she sleeps with the Serbian captain running the camp, I believe there is a dual nature in our protagonist. Firstly, I think humans innately want to survive. I think its part of our nature and is why we have lasted thousands of years. Samira engages in survival sex even if it involves sleeping with a Serbian causing so much death and destruction. Even so, I think that the second part of Samira's nature is that she cares for others even if she does not want to. When she got gathered from the village, all she asked was who was to teach the children if she was gone. At the camp, one of the first things she does is help a sick man and give her bread to a hungry child. While engaging in the survival sex, she brings the other women food even if they call her out for holding onto her identity and also for seeing the captain. She takes care of the little girl after she was raped. At the very end of the movie, when she realizes she has a baby, she tries to abandon it. Emphasis on the "tries." She just couldn't. The final scene includes her coming back and breastfeeding the child as she cries. So even when trying to be selfish and abandon the product of a rape, she simply cannot help but to be there for the innocent.

That is the resilience of a lot of the women of the concentration camps. Many were raped and tortured. THere is not much to say for Bosniak men in the film since they were basically all killed, but this film portrays the strength of women in troubling times.

Even after the screen turned black, I could not get some brutal images out of my head. Throughout the whole time, I was cringing every second to the extent that my body actually hurt in the end. It was painful not because it was a terrible movie, but because it was so powerful in many different ways. The actress was absolutely flawless in conveying the emotion and maintaining the tension throughout, and the director did a wonderful job putting it together through unique editing technique that involved segmented scenes, shots focusing on facial expressions, and few dialogues. Moreover, this movie intentionally leaves some of the controversial issues regarding concentration camps ambiguous, providing a room for the audience to contemplate on them and form their own opinions.

One of the major moral controversies arising regarding the concentration camps is the matter of survival sex. The main character, Samira, is sexually violated in the concentration camp by Serbian soldiers. After experiencing and observing repeated incidents, she decides to not succumb to this cycle. She goes to meet the captain and engages in a sexual relationship with him in order to survive through the camp. There are two perspectives in viewing her action: using sex for survival or regaining her identity as a woman. If one views her action as an example of survival sex, it becomes morally questionable. If she was a perfect victim previously, she now chooses not to be one, thus using her sexuality for survival. The movie conveys both sides through the fellow victims talking behind her. Some support her actions, but others criticize her. By showing both sides, the movie deliberately chooses not to make a decision, allowing the audience to continue on with the conversation.

The most emotionally poignant scene personally is the later part of the movie when she realizes that she is pregnant. This part actualizes the concept that the camp never leaves the victims. Imagine having to raise the perpetrator's baby. The complex emotions she must have felt are well delivered through her facial expressions, flashbacks, and her conflicting actions. The peak is when Samira bursts into tears, which contrasts to the straight face she has kept throughout the entire camp experience. Choosing that as the last scene of the play was also a smart choice, as it had a powerful impact on the audience.

This film was extremely difficult to watch, but to be any less than horrific would be an injustice to the victims and survivors of concentration camps during the Bosnian War. As If I Am Not There succeeds in depicting a representative camp experience for a young woman during the time of the war. The film explores the intricate complexities of relationships between abusers and victims, as well as between internees themselves. Samira, the main character, after being repeatedly raped by soldiers, is forced into a subordinate relationship with the captain of the camp in order to reap certain benefits to stay alive. Although Samira's choices are morally questionable, the film does well to address the fact that victims were willing to do nearly anything in order to survive. The film depicts the captain as a "non-monster," but his seemingly gentle nature is abusive nonetheless and he is no less of a rapist than the soldiers that brutally gang raped Samira throughout her time in the camp. For a brief moment towards the end of the film, the audience feels triumphant as the women escape the camp and appear atop a mountain. Although a fleeting moment before the audience is brought back to reality, it is extremely important in the depiction of female survivors of the war. After having spoken with survivors, they all emphasized a desire to be depicted as strong female survivors. Then, the audience is taken back to the reality that victims faced after their internment. The war did not end in 1995 for any survivors, but actually follows them everyday of their lives. In the film, the ongoing traumas of war are represented physically by Samira's baby, the product of rape, that will be a lifelong reminder of the torture she suffered. The audience is brought into Samira's mindset as she contemplates killing, leaving, or keeping the baby. The last scene shows Samira making the decision to keep the child as she breastfeeds it, and finally allows herself to cry and feel the emotions that she was forced to suppress during her time in the camp. The scene is made so powerful by Samira's lack of emotion throughout the rest of the film. She is continually dehumanized by her rapists, literally feeling as if she's nothing in the scene where she is looking on her own experience of rape and abuse from above. The poignant absence of dialogue throughout the film, except for a few conversations, strips Samira of her individuality and ability to be herself. She partially reclaims this through her relationship with the captain, but once again, this is a forced and false sense of self. Samira is truly able to be her own person at the end of the film, but she is forever changed by her experiences as a survivor of the camp.

Samira is a young teacher from Sarajevo who takes a teaching job in a small village .Serbian soldiers take them all even though she explains she is only there to teach,this comes to no avail she is herded like other women to a camp ,she is in a state of shock having witnessed mass shootings. Her dignity as a human and a woman is torn to pieces. Watching/feeling the aftermath of the torture to herself, of the other women and one very young girl whos rapist/torturer knew her brother..gross!!

She decides not to die silent..but to use her femininity to get a "somewhat" easier existence. She gets noticed by the Captain and becomes his main girl. Which is quite disturbing also because he doesn't torture or threaten her but gives her the simple things like food,access to a bath.... the small things we take granted become like a currency. (I am forced to ask myself if i would do this under the same conditions.And the answer is probably yes after being raped and beaten any respite would be welcome).

He knows she hates him/fears him which still make him a raper, but he doesn't want to force her like the others...This leads to a complicated situation with the other girls who are experiencing the hell of the other soldiers.

A very dark look at humans in general..Serbian men in this particular case since they all grew up along side these women maybe even went to the same schools somehow making it worse for me to understand.

Anyway she survives but what is left is a shell of her former self.Its very sad to think of these ladies having to go through such horrors and the men thinking they can get away with it.

But the strong acting makes it into a compelling film, even though extremely disturbing .

What I want to say right away is that As If I Am Not There is one of the most powerful films I have ever seen. The film, for lack of a better way to express how I feel, punched me in the gut. The realism of the film, paired with the brilliant performance by Natasha Petrovic, brought the horrors of the Bosnian War to life in terms of the pain and the terror felt by many women. Also, for the most part, it brought to life a lot of the historical context surrounding the war. As shown in the film, men of all ages from rural villages, except young boys, were rounded up and shot on the spot throughout the more rural parts of Bosnia. The women were brought to concentration camps mainly stationed in warehouses and raped relentlessly. The one historical aspect of the film that I question is the ongoing "relationship" Samira held with the Captain. While we should more accurately label this act as survival sex on Samira's part, how often did these kinds of relationships occur in these camps? I understand that this storyline was most likely needed to be a complicated part of the overall narrative of the film, but would this kind of relationship have readily occurred to a woman who was not from Sarajevo and thus perhaps considered more modern by the Serbian soldiers when compared to her rural village counterparts? I do not believe that these acts of relations with the Captain were common and historically accurate for the majority of women who were placed in these camps, especially in terms of the meals and baths afforded Samira by the Captain. Though overall, Juanita Wilson did an extraordinary job with conveying the feelings of the women with little dialogue and unforgettable emotional messages. It is hard to find much fault in a movie that moves you so deeply and resonates with you for long after the credits finish rolling on the screen.