Nordrand

The war in former Yugoslavia is at its most intense period. In the waiting room of a Vienna abortion-clinic Jasmin and Tamara meet again for the first time since they graduated from school. Jasmin works in a bakery and lives in misery with her parents in a downtrodden neighbourhood. Tamara lives alone in her parents' home after her parents decided to go back to Serbia. Slowly they start up their friendship all over again, even though they are in many regards each other's opposites. The Vienna of Nordrand is not exactly the Vienna that the city's tourist agencies would use to lure tourists to the city. The title of the film is the name of the big suburban ghetto north of the city, a complex of concrete with great social problems. It is not a very flattering environment. The raw tone of the film is constantly reinforced by the presence of the war, that makes itself known by the segments on the television news and the many refugees that come into the country. For Tamara the war is a nagging concern. Keeping in contact with her family is hard since the telephone wires into Serbia often are not working. This affects her work as a nurse and her love life since no-one completely understands what she is going through. In Jasmin's case the war only exists on her TV-screen. Her most pressing struggle is that of liberation from her parents. Her destructive nature makes this process even harder and when she finally is able to free herself, she is heading into real trouble. The two women find comfort in each other and even if their relationships to men take on quite different forms they are united in the complexity of these relations. Nordrand is a film about friendship and emotional confusion, and even though it is about quite specific circumstances it has a lot to contribute on a universal level.