64%User score 64 percent
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2023 · Drama · History
User Score
154 votes
In a post-WWII Yugoslavia still under Stalinist rule in the 1950s, six-year-old Malik is oblivious as to why his father, Mehmed, has suddenly disappeared. In truth, Mehmed has been sent to a labor camp as punishment for acts of sexual indiscretion involving young girls. Malik's mother, Senija, however, has no answers, and the family must cope in the father's absence.
Recommendations based on this film
deepkino
September 17, 2025
Emir Kusturica's When Father Was Away on Business is a courageous, funny, and deeply moving film that blends comedy, family drama, and political realism. The title refers to the lie a family tells a six-year-old boy to explain his father's imprisonment in a labor camp for a thoughtless remark that offended Communist officials. It won the Palme d'Or at the 1985 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for an Academy Awa…
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