The cinematic debut by Vuk Ršumović is a Serbian-Bosnian version of the wolf-child legend based on a true story.
In 1988, hunters capture a feral boy living among wolves deep in the Bosnian mountains. Without identity, the boy is given the name Haris, and is immediately sent to the orphanage in Belgrade. There, Haris makes friends with his caregiver, Ilke, and another boy, Žika. But Žika has to leave with his father. As he waits for Žika to fulfil his promise and come back, Haris starts attending school and becomes a socialised young man. In 1992, when the war erupts, Haris is sent back to Bosnia.
»People are simply people to my hero. He does not comprehend that someone is a Muslim, a Serbian, a Croat. He does not know why people are killing each other... To me, this is – an anti-war statement. After all, this is what his destiny also discloses. He was given a random Muslim name, although his descent was unknown. (...) I wanted the story to have a universal dimension, to seem as if it could have happened anywhere, not just in Serbia.« (Vuk Ršumović)
Vuk Ršumović
Born in Belgrade in 1975. He concurrently studied writing for film, theatre, TV and radio at the Faculty of Drama Arts in Belgrade as well as analytical psychology. He wrote screenplays for documentaries, fiction series, animation and short feature films. He has also worked as a dramaturge in major Serbian theatres. In 2007, he established BaBoon Production, a film production company that produced several short films and documentaries. No One's Child is his directorial debut.