Love Quote by Jasmila Žbanić

There’s a filmmaker’s kind of idealism in Žbanić’s phrasing: she calls the U.N. “a wonderful idea” before touching the messier question of whether it actually functions. That split is the tell. “Idea” gives her room to defend the aspiration - a global body that can outgrow borders and grudges - while acknowledging, without naming names, that the current institution often feels like a stage set: impressive architecture, limited leverage.

The line is also a quiet indictment. When someone says they want the U.N. “stronger, better and more determined”, they’re pointing at what’s missing: enforcement power, moral clarity, political courage. “Determined” is the sharpest word here because it implies will, not resources - the problem isn’t only money or bureaucracy, it’s the hesitancy that comes from great-power vetoes, diplomatic cowardice, and the fear of taking sides when sides are already being taken on the ground.

Žbanić’s context matters. As a Bosnian director whose work has wrestled with the aftermath of the 1990s wars, she’s speaking from a region where “international community” can sound like both salvation and bitter punchline. The U.N. is remembered not just as a peacekeeping brand, but as a symbol of promises made and, at crucial moments, not kept. Her sentence walks that tightrope: keep faith with the dream, refuse to excuse the failures. It’s less a civics lesson than a plea from someone who knows that institutions aren’t abstract when your life is the case study.