THE INFIDEL

A young Bosnian, raised in a radical islamist commune, is trying to rebuild his life after being accused of taking a part of a terrorist attack.
THE INFIDEL is a feature documentary about a young man, Dino, who spent a part of his youth in a closed radical religious communes of “vahaby” movement in Bosnia and Herzegovina. His father, born as a son of a Bosnian catholic woman and a communist father had a hard time rebuilding his life after the war. Dino’s father meets members of a radical islamist group who presented him their version of religion as a salvation from sufferings. He becomes very radical, decides he has to leave their hometown which is too secular for him and takes his family, Dino, his two juvenile brothers and his mother to Maoča. Dino tries to fit in, spend his time hoarding goats and listening to music in the woods since in the village all music if strictly forbidden. Meanwhile he meets Mevlid, a man planning a terrorist attack on American Embassy in Sarajevo. Not knowing what Mevlid is up to, Dino drives him to Sarajevo and leaves him just before Mevlid started shooting at the Embassy. Dino spends few months in jail, renounces his religion and decides to go back in Bihać, his hometown, cut the ties with radical father and family and build a new life from scratch.
Nowadays he is alone, with a dog keeping him company in his walks and lonely nights. Small town people won’t accept him back calling him a terrorist despite all charges against him were rejected. His family fled to Syria to fight for ISIL leaving Dino behind and calling him the infidel for leaving his family and their beliefs. Dino tells us his disturbing life story while we are following his lonely daily routine. He tries to find a peace for his soul in long walks through the woods, listening to music, drawing and playing fife in his attic. He struggles everyday inside between accepting his family or renouncing them for who they are.

  • Nejra Latic Hulusic
    Director
    Undercovered, Her Cinema Love
  • Nejra Latic Hulusic
    Writer
  • Sabrina Begović Ćorić
    Producer
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    ĆAFIR
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 3 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    November 15, 2019
  • Production Budget:
    20,000 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Country of Filming:
    Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Language:
    Bosnian
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Distribution Information
  • Nejra Latic Hulusic
    Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina
Director Biography - Nejra Latic Hulusic

Graduated from Sarajevo Academy of Performing Arts, Department of Directing in the class of Prof. Haris Pašović. As of 2012, works for BHRT/BHT1. In 2011, she directed the film HER CINEMA LOVE (HOTDOCS, Visions du Reel, ZagrebDOX, DOKLeipzig, Dokufest, MakeDOX, Kurtzfilmtage Wintherthur, Eastern Neighbords FF, Montenegro FF). As the project in the phase of development, her feature-length documentary project UNDERCOVERED was awarded by the “Balkan Documentary Center as one of the “Balkan Discoveries 2011” for the best presentation of project, and nominated for Robert Bosch Stiftung Fund’s support that provided her with training in project fundraising and presentation. UNDERCOVERED had its premiere in the competition program of SFF 2017 and ZAGREBDOX 2018, Lets CEE FF, Vienna, BHFF New York, etc). For her film ĆAFIR, she was awarded at ZAGREBDOX Pro Workshop 2018 for pitching of a project in the phase of development. Together with Sabrina Begović Ćorić, she founded the HAVA Association for Affirmation of Women through Art and Culture. Since 2017, she has been writing columns for the Banja Luka online review “Lola” and Al-Jazeera Balkans Blog section. Employee of national TV station BHRT, director since 2010. to this day.

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Director Statement

During the war in 90s in Bosnia, a group of foreign citizens entered country as volunteering soldiers or so called jihadists willing to die helping their brother Muslims in trouble. Most of them were practicing radical form of Islam, known as salafism, unknown to moderate Bosnian Muslims.
In the chaos in Bosnian society torn by war, with the post-communistic national and religious identity crisis a lot of people found their peace in religion. Bosnia became a major trading point, a railway station between East and West for trading new religious and political ideologies.
Young people of Bosnia, raised mostly in communistic families, were offered different radical religious ideas. Those people were selling ideas of Heaven, instant absolution of sins and isolation of chaotic society. Those communes were different in all aspects of life, starting with the modest eastern dress code, ending with constant callings to join (in some of their communes) so called “holly wars” in Middle East. Main percentage of people who joined those ideologies were those who had nothing to lose anymore.
This character driven, journal like narrative structured film THE INFIDEL tells us about the influences our parents decisions have on our own lives and using religion as a mean of power. The film, also, speaks metaphorically about the influence of politics of world most powerful governments to small countries like Bosnia and Herzegovina.