Selma, a Bosnian screenwriter from Sarajevo, has written a screenplay processing her experiences as a refugee in Germany from the Yugoslav War. But four weeks before the shoot is scheduled to begin, the project is canceled. While drowning her frustrations in alcohol, Selma fails to inform all of the crew members of the shoot’s cancellation, while an Hamburg-based actor named Niklas is preparing his role for the film – only learning upon his arrival in Sarajevo that the film is no more. Spontaneously, he decides to stay in Sarajevo, where he crosses paths with Selma, and their worlds collide: the pessimistic, reserved Bosnian and the optimistic, charming German, both connected by the same dream of making movies. They spend New Year’s Eve together and experience an exciting and life-changing night. Cherry Juice was presented at the latest Sarajevo Film Festival.
“What does war leave behind? And how does one deal with war in the world to begin with? Through my personal experience with the Bosnian War, these questions drive me: I remember the sounds of bombs, my parents living in fear, the soldiers in our apartment searching for my father. When I asked my mother what the war left behind, she responded ‘an empty soul’. I have never forgotten this sentence. But our family was lucky that we survived – many people didn’t – and the ongoing war in Ukraine, where some refugees will be luckier than others, takes me back to my own experiences as a child. As a filmmaker I want to engage with these universal questions of life, by exploring the human soul in a world where beauty and war are intertwined.” (M. Husagic)
Sceneggiatura, montaggio, illustrazioni, animazioni / Screenplay, Editing, Illustrations, Animation: Mersiha Husagic
Fotografia / Photography: Oliver Nimz
Musica / Music: Casper Clemens, Heinz Rink, Martin Gerth, Alexander Precht, Markus Maria Hübner
Suono / Sound: Christian Grundey, Alexander Precht
Scenografia / Art Director: Bertrand Boisselier
Costumi / Costume Designer: Hurmeta Husagic
Interpreti / Cast: Mersiha Husagic, Niklas Löffler, Hurmeta Husagic, Aline de Oliveira, Tina Jansen, Adis Marevac
Produzione / Produced by: Mersiha Husagic, Birgit Gernböck
Coproduzione / Co-produced by: Niklas Löffler, Hurmeta Husagic, Senad Husagic, Bertrand Boisselier
Mersiha Husagic
Film director, screenwriter and actress, Mersiha Husagic was born in 1989 in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In September 1992 she left her home country with her mother during the Bosnian war, meeting her father in Hamburg where he had previously fled due to political persecution. She attended acting school in Hamburg and since working as an actress in film and television, mostly for crime series like SOKO München. In 2015 she enrolled in the Hochschule für Bildende Künste Hamburg (HfBK), where she made several short films and a documentary before graduating in 2020 with her feature debut Cherry Juice, completed in July 2023.
2015 What Comes Comes doc. cm / sf 2016 Crveni snijeg cm / sf 16mm 2017 Among People cm / sf 2023 Cherry Juice
