As If I Am Not There (Serbian: Као да ме нема / Kao da me nema) is a 2010 Irish-Serbian drama film directed by Juanita Wilson. The film is set in the Balkans and is shot in the Serbo-Croatian language. It was selected as the Irish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 84th Academy Awards, but did not make the final shortlist.
The film follows a young teacher who travels to a remote village. After the village is attacked, she is imprisoned and raped, together with the women of village. It is based on Slavenka Drakulić's 1999 novel of the same name that deals with war rape in the Bosnian War.
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Plot
Set during the Bosnian War, the movie follows the experiences of Samira, a young teacher from Sarajevo, who travels to a remote village to teach. Soon after arriving, the village is attacked by a group of soldiers. The men are killed and the women are placed in a makeshift brothel. There, the women are repeatedly raped and beaten. Stripped of all her possessions and constantly threatened with death, Samira decides to take a stand.
She puts on makeup, forbidden by her captors, as a form of defiance. Due to this act, a kind hearted Serbian army officer takes notice of Samira and protects her from the soldiers. She realizes that surviving means more than just simply staying alive.
Cast
Nataša Petrović as Samira
Feđa Štukan as The Captain
Jelena Jovanova as Jasmina
Miraj Grbić as Commander
Jasna Diklić
Zvezda Angelovska
Nikolina Kujača
Sanja Burić
Katina Ivanova
Jana Stojanovska
Nino Levi
Irina Apelgren as Alisa
Jana Mirčevska
Stellan Skarsgård
Reception
The film received positive reviews. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 85% based on 13 reviews, with an average rating of 6.4/10.