Remake

Remake

Movie · 2003 · 12 people

Bosnia and Herzegovina, France and Turkey co-produced Remake, a 2003 Bosnian war drama. It is the first feature of director Dino Mustafić, and the script is by Zlatko Topčić, who drew on events from his own life. Enes Cviko and Martine de Clermont-Tonnerre produced it.

The film runs two eras in parallel. On one side is Ahmed, a father living in Sarajevo during World War II; on the other is his son Tarik Karaga, who grows up under the siege of the city in the Bosnian War, and the two coming-of-age stories unfold side by side. Ermin Bravo plays Tarik Karaga, while Ahmed is played by Miralem Zupčević and Ermin Sijamija. The cast also includes Aleksandar Seksan, Dejan Aćimović, Emir Hadžihafizbegović, François Berléand and Évelyne Bouix.

It had its world premiere on 23 January 2003 at the 32nd International Film Festival Rotterdam, where it was the best-attended film. It was first shown in Bosnia and Herzegovina on 22 February 2003 and won a Special Mention at the 53rd Berlin International Film Festival. At its US premiere at the Wine Country Film Festival in San Francisco on 21 August 2004, it took the Award for Peace and Cultural Understanding, Best First Feature and Best Actor (Ermin Bravo).

DirectorDino Mustafić
Remake

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Through different eyes

Cinephile Looks at script, editing and directing choices; keeps a distance from formula films.

For his first feature, director Dino Mustafić picks a bold structure: the stories of Ahmed, a father coming of age in Sarajevo during World War II, and his son Tarik, growing up in the besieged city during the Bosnian War, run side by side through parallel editing. Even the title carries a bitter irony about history repeating itself. Zlatko Topčić's script, drawn from his own life, gives this mirrored structure a personal weight. That is also where the risk lies: the parallels between the two eras can feel schematic at times, and one story may seem more alive than the other. Ermin Bravo's Best Actor award and the Special Mention in Berlin show the film was taken seriously on the festival circuit.

History & Society Lens Asks about the period, the social background and what the work reflects.

Remake tells of two generations tested by two different wars in the same city: the father's youth falls in World War II, the son's in the siege of Sarajevo. The parallel suggests that in the Balkans war is not a parenthesis closed within one generation but an experience handed down within families. Because the script draws on the writer's own life, the film comes close to a testimony. Its status as a co-production of Bosnia and Herzegovina, France and Turkey is also a reminder that the region's memory is not a purely local matter. Being the best-attended film in Rotterdam shows that the story resonated with European audiences as well.

Family Viewer Asks whether the whole household can watch it; cares about humour and heart.

Remake is a war drama with a heavy subject: a father's and a son's youth unfold inside two separate wars, one of them the siege of Sarajevo. It is not a film to watch with children. It could open a conversation about history and family with high-school-age teens, but it's better for the adults to watch it first and decide. For anyone curious about the bond between a father and a son, it's a thought-provoking film.

These are not reader reviews: they are short editorial takes written from different viewer perspectives with AI assistance. Reader reviews are below.

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