Filmfestival Wake up Europe | Screening: Quo Vadis Aida

Screening, followed by panel discussion on the topic of genocide 

Language: OMU Bosnian, English, Dutch with English Subtitles

ABOUT the movie Quo Vadis Aida?

QUO VADIS, AIDA? tells of just a few dramatic days in the life of a woman whose fate stands for that of an entire generation of women who survived the war in Bosnia. More than 8000 civilians - almost all of them male - were murdered and buried in mass graves by the Bosnian Serb army in the Srebrenica massacre, which is classified as genocide. It is considered the most serious war crime in Europe since the end of World War II. In addition to the atrocious acts of Ratko Mladić's army, the role of the United Nations has also been sharply criticized in connection with the massacre. July 2020 marked the 25th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre, and to this day it seems incomprehensible that such a catastrophe could occur before the eyes of the international community, in the middle of Europe.

ABOUT Elida Vikić

Elida Vikić is an associate for the Europe and Central Asia division of Human Rights Watch. She is involved in work around human rights issues in the EU, Turkey, and the Western Balkans. Prior to joining Human Rights Watch, Elida worked on investigating women’s rights violations and post-war reconciliation efforts in the Balkans with the Center for Narrative and Conflict Resolution. Previously she worked in the US Congress. Elida holds a bachelor's degree in conflict resolution from George Mason University, and a master's degree in Global Governance and Diplomacy from the University of Oxford. She speaks English and Bosnian/Serbian/Croatian.

The event is funded by the European Academy Berlin (EAB) and the Alfred Toepfer Foundation.

Registration for the 11.02.2023

Another event of this series will take place on the 18th of February. 

Details for the 18.02.2023

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ABOUT Did We Really Wake Up?

Discussions about European wars are a sensitive and highly relevant issue. Showing three selected films about the wars in the Western Balkans is intended to inform on the one hand, but on the other hand also to draw parallels with the news we receive from Ukraine on a daily basis, in order to raise awareness of emotional, material and institutional ramifications that these wars result in.

Young people in particular often lack information which, among other things, leads to the fact that some perceive the Russian war against Ukraine as the "first war in Europe since the end of the Second World War". We want to point out this blind spot and dare to try to clear it up. By showing the following films Grbavica- Land of My Dreams, Quo Vadis Aida? and Hive, the topics of genocide, sexual violence, coming to terms with the past, or the reconstruction after a war, will be addressed.

With the three film screenings and subsequent moderated audience discussions, the project promotes the exchange between experts from various domains (NGO representatives, filmmakers and film theorists, academics with a research focus on war crimes, sexual violence and reconciliation) from the affected areas and young people. The project contributes to anchoring the wars in the Western Balkans in European memory and to providing young people with perspectives to analyse and understand today's Russian war against Ukraine.

*The event will be held in English.*

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European Academy Berlin (EAB)

The organizer is an international team of students and young professionals from Germany, France, Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Ukraine, who came together in 2021 in the context of a workshop on transnational solidarity in the Bosnian war, to address the issue of wars in Europe and their significance for civil society in light of current events in Ukraine.Europe