Year: 2019
Length: 24 minutes
Language: Bosnian
Film Category: Short Narrative

Cast & Credits

Director: Sabina Vajrača

Screenwriter: Sabina Vajrača

Producer: Wes Akwuobi, Miles Alva

Co-Producer: Sara Alize Cross

Cinematographer:  Eugene Koh

Editor: R Eugene Kohedzinald Simek

Production Design: Joyanna Hatcher

Music: Joyanna Hatcher

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Cast: Mira Furlan, Leona Paraminski, Trent Walker, Gigi Papasavvas, Goran Ivanovski, Areeta Asgharzadeh, Kurt Grelak, Alexandru Achindinov, Nirvan Patnaik, Melissa Celikovic, Shawn Pan, Alexandra Lorenzo, Lucan Alto Stargiotti, Abby Suder, Sam Brandel, Merima Turcinhodzic, Erica Wein, Ena Catic, Haris Turcinhodzic, Jaik Suri, Amila Kapetanovic.

Film Synopsis:

15-year-old maths whiz Nikola is offered an unexpected chance to escape war-torn Sarajevo when his math club receives an invitation to participate in the 1995 International Math Olympics in Canada. Nikola initially sees the invitation as a reward for his dedication to mathematics and his club in the midst of the siege of Sarajevo.  It is also a chance to experience teenage life outside of a war zone. But escape comes with a price: Nikola must face the possibility of leaving, and perhaps never again seeing, his mother and younger sister.  

Director's Biography

Born in Bosnia, Sabina immigrated to the U.S. in 1994 as a war refugee and currently resides in Los Angeles. Her first film, the critically acclaimed feature documentary BACK TO BOSNIA, premiered at the 2005 AFI Fest and screened at over 30 festivals worldwide, winning Director's Choice at the Crossroads Film Festival. It’s currently streaming on multiple platforms, including Amazon and iTunes. Since then she wrote, directed, and produced commercials, music videos, and over a dozen short films including the multiple-award-winning VARIABLES, which is currently on the festival circuit, and a Warner Bros./USC feature period drama VOODOO MACBETH. She also assisted writer/director Max Mayer on his feature film ADAM, starring Hugh Dancy and Rose Byrne (2009 Sundance).

Sabina’s an Annenberg Scholar and a recipient of numerous awards for her work, including the DGA Student Awards Grand Prize, the Alfred P. Sloan Grant, the Ryan Murphy Half Directing Mentorship, the Nantucket Screenwriters Colony Fellowship, the Stowe Story Labs’ Tangerine Fellowship, and was the 2019 Student Academy Award Semifinalist the 2020 HUMANITAS Prize Finalist. She’s a member of Film Fatales, Women in Film, and WIMPS, and received her MFA in Film and TV Production at USC School of Cinematic Arts.