THE END OF DARKNESS

Croatian-Dutch filmmaker observes female miners in Bosnia and explores how it feels to spend a whole life working in what is, for women, a rare profession. Screenings will be followed by Q&A with the director Ranko Pauković.

Synopsis

For multiple generations from a small Bosnian mining town, the dark coal mine Breza is the fulfillment of professional dreams and a symbol of progress, as well as the cause of the biggest tragedy. Sakiba, an enthusiastic woman with strong opinions, stands tall among the majority male miners. She can’t get her head around division of jobs to ‘female’ and ‘male’, an opinion she has fought since she landed a miner’s job at the age of nineteen. Walking down the dark tunnels with loose safety regulations, she talks about appreciation for natural light and retirement, when she hopes to try some new mindfulness techniques her colleague reads about online. Sakiba was never welcome to drink along a male colleagues in a local bar when payday comes, but she ends up dancing to the beats of well-known Yugoslav rock band celebrating her hero.