Dir: Marijana Jankovic | Drama 105′ Denmark/Serbia
Set in the 1991, during the Balkan dissolution, this semi-autobiographical drama, based on the director’s own experience, follows a family of migrants who uproot and try to make a go of life in Northern Europe. The idea started life as a short film Maja in 2018, and Jankovic has successfully fleshed out the narrative as Hjem her feature debut which screens at this year’s Rotterdam Film Festival.
The story begins with father Mark, a small-holder, living off the land in the former Yugoslavia but struggling to survive from his produce and animals. A friend from abroad impels him to seeks a better life for the family in Denmark. But his wife objects to leaving the kids. Mark must convince them of a brighter future in the North. But will it be?
Hjem is then seen through the eyes of Maya, 6, his young daughter, who will join her parents, leaving the two boys behind in (the former) Yugoslavia. Once there, her parents decide the only way forward is through an arranged marriage, and that leaves little Maya bewildered. This intergenerational viewpoint feels authentic and adds another dimension to the tale for reasons that soon become evident in the feature’s well-paced dramatic arc.
The family are seen as victims from the outset, and it certainly seems they’ve been naive in their choice of country. The arranged marriage to obtain papers comes unstuck when the Danish counterparts demand more money for the deal, and Maya’s parents must navigate this fraught situation without falling foul of the Law, and this twist provides the film with its dramatic heft.
Maja seems to cope better than her parents, learning Danish enables her to deal with the administrative side of the move and she soon grows up soon reaching a maturity beyond her years. But this baptism of fire will have a big impact years later, as her story plays out, everything coming with its price.
ROTTERDAM FILM FESTIVAL JANUARY 29 – FEBRUARY 8 | 2026