04-11-2020

Quo Vadis, Aida? Tops Bosnian and Herzegovinian Box Office for Three Weeks

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     Quo Vadis, Aida? by Jasmila Žbanić Quo Vadis, Aida? by Jasmila Žbanić

    SARAJEVO: Domestic films are having a surprise resurgence in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with Jasmila Žbanić’s Quo Vadis, Aida? on top of the box office for three weeks running.

    Quo Vadis, Aida?, the story of a family trapped in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, was produced by Deblokada in coproduction with Austria’s Coop99, Romania’s Digital Cube, Netherlands’ N279 Productions, Germany’s Razor Film, Poland’s Extreme Emotions, France’s Indie Prod and Norway's Tordenfilm. It premiered at the 77th Venice Film Festival and has been submitted for the Academy Awards by the Association of Filmmakers of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

    The film had 3,731 admissions and grossed 12.220 EUR / 23,903 KM in its first three weeks in national distribution. The numbers are high by local standards, especially considering that cinemas in Bosnia and Herzegovina are under the strict COVID-19 regulations severely limiting cinema attendance since their recent re-opening. The complete 2019 Box Office gross for domestic films was 4,425 EUR / 8,654 KM with 2,322 admissions (including both majority and minority coproductions).

    Two more Bosnian and Herzegovinian films have performed well in 2020: Full Moon (SCCA/pro.ba) by Nermin Hamzagić and Focus, Grandma (Obala Art Center) by Pjer Žalica. Full Moon had the highest domestic film admissions with 425 viewers in 2019, grossing 838 EUR / 1,640 KM.  In 2020, it reached 1,370 EUR / 2,683 KM in box office and 661 in admissions. Focus, Grandma, which premiered at the online edition of the Sarajevo Film Festival, had a record number of 1,400 admissions at the opening and still grossed 2,055 EUR / 4,020 KM and had 758 admissions in cinemas.

    These three films combined grossed 14,810 EUR / 28,966 KM and 4,725 admissions, already surpassing the records of the last five years (2019: 4,425 EUR / 8,654 KM; 2018: 10,410 EUR / 20,362 KM; 2017: 105 EUR / 207 KM; 2016: 4,958 EUR / 9,698 KM).