Particularly when one thinks of the very real context that grounds this fictional tale, the film Anatema is emotionally taxing. Ema's strength of character amidst such turmoil, however, inspires, and her story offers important insight into the inner realms of war. Sopi, like his protagonist, seeks to make known the realities of his nation's past and present, and to ignite questions that have otherwise been ignored. Through Ema's eyes, we see images through which we have known Kosovo guns, tanks, fires, corpses but also images of life amidst the battle that remind us of the complexity of human interactions. For Sopi, the word of war is one of stark polarity, in which the most repulsive and most tender behaviors simultaneously emerge; it is a world in which army generals bathe in rose-petaled water while children starve on the streets, but also one in which friendships are forged with exceptional loyalty, and in which the daily atrocities are sometimes redeemed, or at least lessened, by simple acts of kindness. Insightful and sincere, the film demands our attention, and urges us to take up Ema's quest for truth into our own hands.
