THE NATURE OF A HOME
Several years ago, I began thinking about producing a documentary series which captures the life of the people still living in my mother’s home Prapratnica, situated in Bosnia & Herzegovina. I saw the village and the people slowly disappearing throughout the years and I wanted to capture these memories in order to be able to look back on them, before they completely vanish. The main idea and concept of the project shifted suddenly when my mother got very ill. She passed away and I felt the need to dedicate this project to her, to experience this village through her eyes and to reflect on her past and the present me. The work is a personal journey; stepping into my mother’s footsteps, learning about her past and a period of her life I do not know much about. For the people who still remain in this village I am a reflection of my mother - I am her daughter. They see me as familiar yet strange, being partly formed by a modern culture that is like another world for many of them. I not only look to the past, this project is also about focusing on the here and now, finding my roots and reconnecting with them. Through the perspective of an outsider I engage with the past and the present, creating a visible thread that leads us home. |