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Zemka is the mother of twelve year-old Nirvana who has been killed by a shell in Sarajevo during the Bosnian War. She looks at the footage of her now-deceased daughter dancing that filmmakers Tahir Cambis and Alma Sahbaz had only recently taken. Zemka becomes distressed as she looks at the dress and handbag that Nirvana was wearing at the dance. Belma, Nirvana’s sister, comforts her mother.
Curator’s notes
Cambis’ narration explains that Zemka, an administrator at Sarajevo University, and her family have stayed in Sarajevo during the siege and ‘fought for their city by refusing to leave’. The ultimate price she has paid is the loss of her young child and this extraordinary moment of grief is captured on camera. The video images of a vibrant Nirvana dancing in her pink dress are interspersed with Zemka sitting on her couch holding the dress that Nirvana wore only the week before. Her grief at the loss of her child later causes her to question whether she can face staying in Sarajevo any longer. Later in the film, we find out that she and Belma decide to leave Sarajevo to rebuild their lives in the United States.
