Synopsis
A ball is spinning around, stuck in the river that goes through the Grbavica neighborhood, in Sarajevo. Grbavica comes from Sarajevo, from Kafka and from a ball spinning around in a river, stuck in the middle of the flowing water. Grbavica arises from the will to break the time for a moment, as if we stabbed it in the back. It arises from the desire to look at memories in the eye, from one side of the river to the other.
Session Un Impulso Colectivo – Short 1
Presented by the director
Filmmaker
Manel Raga
He completed an M.A. in Filmmaking at ESCAC in Barcelona. From 2010 to 2012, he worked as a filmmaker with La Fura dels Baus, and in 2013 his short La gallina premiered at the Venice Film Festival. In 2017, he earned a PhD in Filmmaking at the film.factory in Sarajevo, a school mentored by Hungarian director Béla Tarr. During this period, he directed two short films presented at Doclisboa and Locarno, among other festivals. His most recent documentary short, Homenatge a Judes, won the Best Short Film Award. In 2022, he took part in Berlinale Talents, and he is currently working on Vatra, his first feature film.
Filmography: Firewood (short, 2025, D'A 2026), Tribute to Judas (short, 2019), Grbavica (short, 2018, D'A 2019), Manel Lives in Sarajevo (short, 2017), The Hen (short, 2013), Matando el sueño (short, 2009)
