My Mother’s Wound 2016

On turning 18, Salih leaves the Zenica orphanage in modern-day Bosnia, where he was raised, to search for his parents. Süleyman Atanısev as Sadık, the principal, hesitantly gives him the address of Mirsad, a crippled cobbler who lives in Simin Han. Upon Salih’s arrival, [Mirsad] insists he join the family for lunch, where he meets Nerma and their young son Vedat. He also encounters Nerma’s elderly mother, Mevlide, who privately reveals that Salih is Nerma’s son. Believing the truth could unleash more pain, [Mevlide] urges Salih to leave, handing him money and her earrings. As Salih departs, he bumps into a surprised Nerma bringing them lunch, and he returns the earrings along the way.

A storm of emotion drives Salih to pursue Borislav, yet he learns there are multiple people with that name. His search leads him to a farm in Prijedor, where he poses as a job seeker. Borislav is about to turn him away, but his wife Marija—a woman who resents discrimination against Muslims—welcomes him and hires him for a two-week trial. Salih struggles to find evidence tying Borislav to the rape, and instead discovers a man who is loving toward his wife, and even a hero who rescues a boy from a burning building. On a hunting trip with Borislav and his tattooed, rough-around-the-edges friends, Salih sees Borislav shirtless and notes the tattoo on his chest is not an eagle, a revelation that reassures him in part about the man’s identity.

Salih grows comfortable on the farm and forms a bond with Marija, while Nerma wrestles with amnesia and the lingering trauma of her past. He decides to move out to search for the rapist, but Borislav drags him along fishing, and Salih quietly hides a note he intends to leave behind. Marija discovers the note and confronts him; Salih admits that he is trying to find his parents but says nothing about the rape. Meanwhile, Marija’s actions begin to blur lines of memory and loyalty as she strives to help him locate his family. She eventually contacts Nerma, under the impression that Nerma is Mrs Mevlide, and explains that Salih works on her farm and that they are desperate to locate his family—inviting Nerma to visit.

Desperate to reclaim her memory, Nerma returns to the farm where she finds Salih and demands the truth. Salih denies knowledge of the past. She asks if Salih is her son, to which he cryptically replies:

I am my mother’s wound.

Nerma’s memory returns when she sees a photograph of Borislav and recognizes him as the rapist, realizing also that Salih is her son. Salih recalls that the eagle tattoo had been inked over, confirming the forged history that surrounded him. Realizing his identity has been discovered, Borislav arrives with a shotgun, and a tense standoff unfolds. Salih denounces Borislav and rejects him as his father, while Nerma drags Salih away, and they begin to walk away on foot.

Marija confronts Borislav and takes the shotgun, pointing it at her own head in a desperate stand. Salih and Nerma meet [Mirsad] driving along the road, and they hear a gunshot from the farmhouse. As Salih races back, a second shot rings out, implying that both Marija and Borislav have committed suicide. The film closes with Nerma calling out to Salih.