Aydin-Aitchinson on Victims, Perpetrators, and Bystanders: Atrocity and Its Aftermath in the Films of Jasmila Žbanić @UoELawSchool

Andy Aydin-Aitchinson, University of Edinburgh School of Law, has published Victims, perpetrators, and bystanders: Atrocity and its aftermath in the films of Jasmila Žbanić as Edinburgh School of Law Research Paper No. 2023/07. Here is the abstract.

Following cultural and visual criminologists, who explore cinematic representations of victimhood, gender, witnessing, and memory, I excavate the ‘implicit criminologies’ in four films by Bosnian director Jasmila Žbanić: Grbavica (2006); Na putu [On the path] (2010); Za one koji ne mogu da govore [For those who can tell no tales] (2013); and Quo Vadis, Aida? (2020). In criminological terms, Žbanić’s work is strongest as an example of cinematic victimology, but also poses important questions around perpetration and bystanders. By noting the films’ potential to encapsulate universal and particular elements and by casting cinematic knowledge as a collective project, I question the need to hold one film or one director to an overly rigid ethical standard of inclusivity.

Download the article from SSRN at the link.