“An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker” directed by Danis Tanović will be shown on the opening ceremony (23.08.2013, Bishkek, Dom Kino - Cinema House) of the Forth Art-House Film Festival.

The first film I saw from the 63 Berlinale Competition programme is “An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker” by the Bosnian director Danis Tanović.

I was looking forward to it because I like the work of Tanovic. You certainly remember “No Man’s Land” his first feature film that won him the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2001 and his 2010 film “Circus Columbia” with the amazing Miki Manojlović.

Last year Danis Tanović was a special guest at the International Sofia Film Festival and I could experience him live during a meeting with the public in one of the Sofia film theaters.  I remember he said that he makes films when something makes him really angry.

This must have been the case with his new film. Tanović read the story of a Roma family in the newspaper and got so appalled that he decided to reconstruct the event. The director met the couple Nazif and Senada and persuaded them to play themselves in the production. They agreed (just like their two lovely young daughters (!) )  and so did their neighbours.

With this half-documentary film shot only for eight cold winter days Tanović is returning to his roots – he used to be a documentary filmmaker during the war.

Don’t expect any Kusturica clichés here though– no Roma music and people singing and dancing on the streets. We are quietly invited into an episode of a loving and hardworking Roma family – father Nazif who collects scrap metal for recycling to make ends meet and his wife Senada who minds their home and the girls.

One day Nazif finds his pregnant wife Senada in pain. After rushing to the hospital, they find that she has miscarried and urgently requires surgery to take the baby out. The problem is that they have neither a medical insurance nor the money to pay the surgery. What do you do then? How do you escape the viscous circle of bureaucracy and poverty in order to save the life of your partner?

These are just some of the questions you will be probably asking yourself during the film. The strongest feature of the film is that it does not give you any ready answers.

As for the close ups of the eyes of Nazif or the silent tears of his wife Senada – they cannot be retold. You have to see and feel them for yourself. Then maybe you will be able to find some kind of answer for yourself.

Nazif and Senada were special guests at the 63 Berlinale. They arrived at the press conference after the screening of the film with the latest member of the family – their new-born son Danis.