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During the winter of 1991, Croatia defended itself against the
military aggression of neighbouring Serbia. Among the innocent victims
of this conflict was Aleksandra Zec, a teenager of Serbian origin, who
was hatefully lynched in Zagreb. A generation later, while in Croatian
schools, Serbian pupils continue to be taken for the “enemies” of
yesterday, Oliver Frljić adapts “the Zec affair” at the theatre, with
Nina, a Serbian, born in 2001, in the title role. In front of Nebojša
Slijepčević’s camera, the troupe’s rehearsals turn into collective
psychotherapy, interspersed by shots of an empty stage haunted by
personal accounts that build up in voiceover. Through skilful
metatheatre that involves both the troupe’s acting and sense of self
as they work on their own memories, distanced by the theatrical
device, Srbenka delineates a public space likely to break the cycle of
vengeance. Slijepčević’s film also constitutes a powerful reflection
on one of the possible functions of art: to dry out, metre by metre,
the cesspool of hatred fed by the entrepreneurs of ethnic cleansing
who continue to act today. |
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