The Bach is the only dramatic protest film against the Bosnian War that was shot in Germany in 1994. It is based on a true refugee story: A young woman flees with her 3 children and her mother-in-law from the approaching troops and, in the course of the escape, is faced with the inhumane decision to save either her children or the old woman. At the end of November 1993, a group of Berlin film and television creators decided to make a short film as a protest against the war in Bosnia. The project “The Stream – Der Bach” was filmed by an international team between December 1st and 4th, 1993 under the direction of the Berlin-based Australian director Garry Lane. The filming took place near the village of Schluft in the former GDR “state hunting area” Schorfheide. All crew members, including the actors, worked for this project without pay. The participants included: The Polish actress and head of a Berlin drama school, Teresa Nawrot, the young Berlin actress and dance performer Serafina Magsamen, as well as three refugee children from the former Yugoslavia who live with their mother in a DRK home in Berlin.

Director: Garry Lane
Screen Writer: Garry Lane
Camera: Peter Gray
Cut: Garry Lane, John Keogh
Music: Györgi Kurtág
Production: Gunter Hanfgarn, John Keogh
Funding: Geyer, Agfa, Kodak, Orwo, Cinelight, Arri, Michael Eiler, Intervision, Beckstage, Rauhut

Mother: Serafina Magsamen
Grandmother: Teresa Nawrot
Children: Tomislav Potesak, Mario Potesak, Ivana Potesak

Bester europäischer Kurzfilm, Cork Film Festival (Irland), 1994
Beste Kamera (Schwarzweißfilm), Cork Film Festival (Irland), 1994
New European Cinema Prize, International Alpe-Adria Film Festival Triest (Italien), 1995
Internationale Filmfestspiele von Venedig (Italien), 1994