Calling the Ghosts

During the war in former Yugoslavia, two Bosnian women fell victim to torture and rape in a concentration camp. After the war, Jadranka Cigelj and Nusreta Sivac started a fight for the recognition of rape as a war crime. As a result of their efforts, the perpetrators are now on trial before the International War Tribunal. The action of the two women was internationally acknowledged. What began as a struggle against the lasting silence of women who have been raped in wartime now has a far-reaching political and international impact. The filmmakers worked on this film for four years and because they managed to win the two women’s confidence they were able to make a poignant and realistic portrait. Partly owing to this Bosnian protest action, the international community starts to realise that mass rapes are not just a by-product of the war, but heavy crimes against humanity.