A man leaves a country. In France, he becomes a father. And his country disappears. His daughter, the narrator, grows up surrounded by anxiety and silences that say far more than words. How can one remember what once existed when language is lacking? As a child in 1990s Auvergne, she catches fragmented glimpses of what is happening “over there”: parcels being prepared, awaited phone calls, conversations cut short.
As an adult, she returns to Bosnia and Herzegovina to reconnect with what she has been missing: walking through Sarajevo, listening to those who stayed, relearning a language that is no longer spoken to her. She gathers memories and stories in order to understand the legacy left by the war, even for those who experienced it from afar.
D’un pays qui n’existe plus is a sensitive journey through memory, where the traces of history become a singular part of the self.
