Regained Memory (2018)

Directed by: Stijn Bouma | 72 minutes | drama | Actors: Salih Palo, Maja Izetbegovic, Izudin Bajrovic, Amna Bajric, Sanin Milavic, Alan Gudelj, Ana-Mia Milic, Abdulah Hadzic, Ivica Pinjuh

If you want to make it as a filmmaker, you have to seize the opportunities that come your way. But if, like Stijn Bouma, you have been rejected no less than three times for the film academy, you are forced to take alternative routes. Bouma left for the Bosnian capital Sarajevo, where the Hungarian filmmaker Béla Tarr he admired has set up his own film school. Here the talented Bouma learned the tricks of the trade thanks to lectures by master film-makers Apichatpong Weerasethakul (‘Cemetery of Splendor’, 2015), Atom Egoyan (‘The Sweet Hereafter’, 1997) and Carlos Reygadas (‘Stellet Licht’, 2007). ). Bouma’s debut film, the 22-minute long ‘Lejla’ (2017), was selected for the Cinéfondation section at the Cannes Film Festival and, together with his graduation film ‘Regained Memory’ (2018), can be seen in a special combined program in Dutch art houses. A promising first acquaintance with one of the greatest directing talents in our country.

‘Regained Memory’ was shot in Sarajevo and the wartime history of this city and its inhabitants plays a crucial role in the film, but not necessarily in the way you would expect. The life of young father Amir (Salih Palo) is turned upside down by the unexpected loss of his wife. However, his memories of her are not as vivid as he would have liked; he struggles to remember her and visits places that played a part in her too short life, hoping to retrieve fragments of his life with her. While his memories of his wife have faded, the war past from his youth is increasingly imposing on him. Memories he tries to numb with alcohol. But his selective memory regularly drives him to despair. He tries to explain to his daughter Emina (Amna Bajric) the traces the war has left on his generation, but the girl is too young to take any notice. Amir is so busy getting his life back on track that he forgets that he is responsible for Emina’s well-being. However, the girl turns out to be an unexpected beacon of hope with her unbridled zest for life.

‘Regained Memory’ had its world premiere at the prestigious Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, in the ‘Future Frames – Ten New Directors To Watch’ program. Not bad for a debutant like Bouma, who has adopted a style that is characterized by a genuine interest in his characters. He studies them extensively, does not allow the viewer’s attention to be distracted by all kinds of peripheral matters: it is about people and what lies in the depths of their souls. ‘Regained Memory’ is all about memories that can make us stand still in time. Memories you want but can’t get back, as Amir would like to remember his wife. But also memories of a time that we are glad that is behind us, but that are forever burned into our retinas, such as Amir’s constant thoughts about the war that tore his country apart and which can still be seen in countless places in Sarajevo. Bouma regularly lets the camera hang on silent witnesses of the war; mortar holes in the ground, destroyed houses. ‘Regained Memory’ has thus not only become a portrait of a man torn by grief for his deceased wife, but also a sketch of a city torn apart that still shows open wounds from an all-encompassing trauma.