An Episode in the Life of Iron Picker

Oscar-winning director Danis Tanovic recreates a politically explosive true story from Bosnia in innovative style, casting a real-life family to relive their desperate struggle to secure life-saving medical treatment.

Oscar-winning director Danis Tanovic recreates a politically explosive true story from Bosnia in innovative style, casting a real-life family to relive their desperate struggle to secure life-saving medical treatment. Scrap-metal worker Nazif returns from work to find his wife Senada seriously ill, but although the hospital confirms her high risk of contracting septicaemia they refuse to offer treatment without medical insurance. What follows is a gripping race-against-time as the family frantically tries to secure the funds to pay for an operation, or find another way to help save Senada by whatever means necessary.

Tanovic’s inspired decision to cast the actual protagonists adds a thought-provoking layer of realism to an impassioned and incisive drama that won the Jury Grand Prix at the Berlin Film Festival 2013.