Fragments of Belonging
original title: Tragovi pripadanja
2026, 80 min., color, Croatian-Dutch=English
DOCUMENTARY CATEGORIES : Social / Society / Human, Portraits
COUNTRIES: Germany, Croatia, Netherlands
PRODUCTION : BUDGET : =
CREW
Director : Screenplay : Tatjana Božić, Jacob GesinkCinematographer : Sven Jacobs
Producers : Magdalena Petrović, Tereza Bóna Keilová, Frank Müller, Sven Jacobs, Tatjana Božić
COMMENTS
FESTIVALS: Sarajevo Film Festival (International premiere), DOK.fest München (German national premiere), Zagreb Dox 2026 (World and Croatian national premiere)
DIRECTOR’S NOTE: Fragments of Belonging is an emotional dramedy with a touch of nostalgia for all that is lost when we move, adapt, and belong nowhere entirely. It explores the loss of roots, community, and identity through the lens of migration and motherhood. As I discovered while making the film, the feeling of not belonging often begins long before we cross borders, it starts within our own families. This film is my attempt to own that story, to turn loss into connection.
SYNOPSIS
Tatjana is lonely. Born in Croatia, she has lived across Europe before settling in Amsterdam. Fifteen years later, her teenage son avoids bringing friends home, embarrassed by her dreadful Slavic accent and her lack of Dutch composure. But the real trouble is bigger: Tatjana feels foreign everywhere. Determined to belong, she starts knocking on doors across Europe, asking relatives and friends how they did it. Stumbling through cultural misfires and everyday bias, she finally confronts an old pattern in her own family history.