Bosnian filmmaker Jasmila Zbanic said she was “unofficially told” in the talks on potential airing of her film 'Quo Vadis, Aida?' on the Serbian state television RTS that they previously have to consult President Aleksandar Vucic on that, which she assessed as “incomprehensible,” according to the autonomija.info web portal.

“I just know I would never live in a country where a president is asked about airing of a film,” said Zbanic.

She spoke via video link during the Autonomous Festival of Women (AFZ), held in the northern Novi Sad, which presented her multi-award-winning film ‘Quo Vadis, Aida?’ at the Museum of Modern Art of Vojvodina.

She noted that she could not understand why ‘Quo Vadis, Aida?’ cannot be shown in Serbia, although her previous film ‘Grbavica’ had multiple screenings in 2006 in Belgrade.

“That's incomprehensible… That means that the atmosphere is a lot worse today,” said Zbanic.

Her latest film tells a story about woman Aida, a translator working with the UN during the 1992-95 Bosnian war and towards the genocide in Srebrenica, who while on duty is also trying to protect her family.

Its only screening in Serbia happened in Novi Pazar, while it was never aired on national TV stations.

The film recently won LUX European Audience Film Award, jointly awarded by the European Parliament and the European Film Academy, in partnership with the European Commission and the Europa Cinemas network.

It was previously named the best European film at the 34th European Film Awards in December 2021, and was shortlisted for the American Film Academy Award as candidate of Bosnia and Herzegovina for the Oscars.