Roma couple recreate own struggle in Berlin film

The Associated Press, Wednesday, February 13, 2013, 3:19am (PST)

BERLIN (AP) — A Bosnian Roma couple re-enact their personal struggle to get treatment after a miscarriage in a movie made with a tiny budget by an Oscar-winning director that's competing for the top prize at the Berlin film festival.

Director Danis Tanovic discovered the story of the couple, Senada Alimanovic and Nazif Mujic, in a newspaper in late 2011. He says he went to meet the family several times and had the "crazy idea" of having the couple play themselves to avoid a long planning process.

Tanovic made the movie, "An Episode In the Life of an Iron Picker," with €17,000 ($23,000) from a Bosnian film fund. It has its premiere Wednesday at the Berlin festival, where it's one of 17 movies competing for the Golden Bear award.