Andrea Staka (Das Fräulein, Switzerland/Germany/Bosnia/Serbia 2006)

“No one calls it Yugoslavia anymore.” The three women at the center of Andrea Staka’s feature debut don’t need a reminder that they come from a country that no longer exists—each carries the sorrow and longing that comes with such a heritage, though each carries it in a different way. Emir Kusturica regular Mirjana Karanovic plays fifty-something Ruza, who left Belgrade 25 years ago and now runs a cafeteria in Zurich, keeping her Serbian roots well hidden. Ruza works with Mila, an older Croatian who, unlike Ruza, longs to return to her beloved homeland. And Ana is the impulsive, itinerant young woman who has fled the war in Sarajevo and bursts into the quiet life Ruza and Mila have carefully cultivated in their little café, injecting her wild spirit into the joyless lives of these two women when she takes a job there. Staka’s background as a Swiss citizen of Bosnian and Croatian heritage informs this tender and insightful film that, in her own words, explores “displacement in our era.” Winner of both Best Film and Best Actress (for Mirjana Karanovic as Ana) at the Sarajevo Film Festival and the Golden Leopard at Locarno, Fraulein, says Jay Weissberg of Variety, is “a remarkably affecting work that doesn’t go for easy sentiment.”

Written by Andrea Staka. Photographed by Igor Martinovic. With Mirjana Karanovic, Marija Skaricic, Ljubica Jovic. (81 min. In German with English subtitles. Film Movement)

October 24–30, Sundance Kabuki Cinemas