BIGGER THAN TRAUMA
Vedrana Pribacic | 2022 | Croatia | 90 minutes | Croatian with English subtitles

Rendezvous With Madness is pleased to present the extraordinary documentary film Bigger Than Trauma directed by Vedrana Pribacic available for streaming across Canada from October 27th to November 6th 

The brutal Croatian War of Independence came to an end in 1995, but survivors of the conflict continue to feel its devastating effects almost 30 years later. Justice has been slow in coming–if it comes at all–and institutional supports are few and far between, particularly for women who continue to live side-by-side with the very men who captured, tortured and raped them. 

Vedrana Pribacic’s Bigger Than Trauma is an intimate portrait of a group of Serbian and Croatian women who join a groundbreaking and unconventional therapy group to break their long-held silences, share their individual experiences and empower them to begin the long road to healing. However, their journey is not without its fair share of obstacles of pain revisited, cultural friction and resentment. In this tender setting, his documentary gives voice to the oft-forgotten and ignored victims of war for their own self-determination after trauma. 

Screening with
Yaren and the Sun | 2021 | Joren Slaets, Renate Raman | Belgium | 19 minutes | Dutch with English subtitles 

Yaren’s mother died when she was six. Her friend Kato’s father died a year ago. Yet the atmosphere in a therapeutic summer camp is far from mournful when one of the supervisors dances with a girl to the lively song “La Bamba.” It’s fine to have fun, the children learn—it can coexist with sadness.

Keywords: Women’s Issues | Trauma | War | Mutual Aid | Healing
Genre: Documentary (feature) Documentary (short)
#RWMFEST #MoreThanRebellion