Fraulein

With a close-up of a wrist branded by an overly-snug wristwatch we can see that Serbian Ruža runs her life in Switzerland by a tight clock. The manager of a canteen, she has few friends among her regular customers and submissive staff. They are not there to chat; they are there to work. Ruža's devoted but clumsy employee is Mila, who saves each paycheck to return to her native Croatia. Little upsets their daily routine until a simple accident introduces these two fifty-somethings to young, whimsical Ana whose joie de vivre reinvigorates the canteen. But Ana, a Bosnian still coping with the repercussions of the war, has her own problems. As these unique women from three different sections of the former Yugoslavia develop an unlikely friendship, each is forced to move beyond her haunting past and embrace the possibilities of her future. With FRAULEIN, an intimate story of improbable relationships and personal growth, filmmaker Andrea Å taka adeptly explores issues of war, nationality, and displacement. (In German, Bosnian, Serbian and Croatian with English subtitles) – E.J.B.