Discoveries from Bosnia & Herzegovina World Cinema

The film follows seven consecutive days at a pivotal moment in Mother Teresa’s life, the period where she decides to leave the Loreto Entally convent in Calcutta and launch her own order.

Testament is a humorous and emotional story set in a Bosnian village and the industrial city of Zenica in the early 1990s. It portrays, in a uniquely local way, the importance of a will and the consequences of its absence within Bosnian culture. Through the lives of ordinary people, the film weaves together a series of small conflicts and misunderstandings over inheritance, tradition, and human relationships, where old customs collide with a reality full of human flaws: gambling, gossip, love, and petty theft. The main character, Asad, after losing his father’s inheritance, must navigate the world of industrial Zenica, local taverns, and everyday rural troubles, aided by his best friend Dževad, a charming man constantly facing his own challenges while seeking shortcuts to every solution.

A drug smuggling crew from Bosnia-Herzegovina faces chaos when a Syrian migrant's explosives attract ISIS terrorists into the country, forcing them into a deadly game of loyalty and survival on the Bosnia and Herzegovina-Croatia border.

Bosnia, July 1995. Aida is a translator for the UN in the small town of Srebrenica. When the Serbian army takes over the town, her family is among the thousands of citizens looking for shelter in the UN camp. As an insider to the negotiations Aida has access to crucial information that she needs to interpret. What is at the horizon for her family and people – rescue or death? Which move should she take?

A human emotional story that introduces us to true human values, but also to longing for our homeland.

Two soldiers from opposite sides get stuck between the front lines in the same trench. The UN is asked to free them and both sides agree on a ceasefire, but will they stick to it?

Follow a group of international journalists into the heart of the once cosmopolitan city of Sarajevo—now a danger zone of sniper and mortar attacks where residents still live. While reporting on an American aid worker who’s trying to get children out of the country, a British correspondent decides to take an orphaned girl home to London.

Mara, a successful businesswoman and single mother, is heartbroken after her son Nemanja’s untimely death. She becomes emotionally detached, refusing to communicate with friends and family. However, when she meets Milan, Nemanja’s close friend, she finds solace and comfort in their relationship.

Set in Sarajevo in May 2021, the city's famous Old Town tries to recover after a difficult pandemic year. When a visitor from Zagreb comes looking for the best kebabs in town, a harmless gesture causes the disintegration of the business and private lives of several people.

A woman and her daughter struggle to make their way through the aftermath of the Balkan war.

As an escape from his early mid-life crisis and wrecked marriage a Bosnian man puts the fate of his life in the hand of his new lady-friend: his GPS. As the GPS leads him to unknown places he embarks on a more and more personal relationship with her.

The story follows a group of birds on a journey where they try to find a better life for themselves and the ones they love.

Loving young couple Luna and Amar try their best to overcome unexpected obstacles that threaten their relationship. After Amar's dramatic change in a fundamentalist community, Luna tears herself apart searching if love is truly enough to keep the couple together on the path to a lifetime of happiness...

Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1991. After the fall of the communists, Divko Buntić, who has lived in exile in Germany for the past twenty years, returns to the village where he grew up, intent on reclaiming ownership of his family home, driving a swanky Mercedes and accompanied by his young bride; by Bonny, his lucky black cat; and with pockets full of money.

A metaphysical odyssey of the Individua members as they grapple with mysterious masked figures and the imminent waiting for them at the end of the snowy forest.

Hurikán rushes out to save his favourite beer stand from closure by fetching a new keg to impress the bartender he has a crush on. In a wild Prague district, he faces robbers, cops, and his own thirst.

At a small border-post on the Yugoslav-Albanian border, yet another generation of soldiers suffering the usual amount of boredom awaits the end of their service, counting days to the moment when they should take their uniforms off for good. It is the spring of 1987 and the thought never even crosses their mind that they would, in fact, put them back on quite soon and go to war.

A pregnant French woman lives in Sarajevo with her Bosnian husband and their daughter. They vacation at a Croatian island, where things get complicated when they all become attracted to a beautiful woman.

An alcoholic Bosnian poet sends his wife and daughter away from Sarajevo so they can avoid the troubles there. However, he is soon descended upon by a pair of orphaned brothers. The brothers have escaped a massacre in their own village and have come to the Bosnian capital in search of a long lost Aunt. The poet befriends the boys and together they try to survive the horror of the siege of Sarajevo.

Sarajevo on 28 of June, 2014. At the Hotel Europa, the best hotel in town, the manager Omer prepares to welcome a delegation of diplomatic VIPs. On the centenary of the assassination that is considered to have led to World War I, an appeal for peace and understanding is supposed to start from here. But the hotel staff have other worries: having not been paid for months, they are planning to go on strike. Hatidza from the hotel laundry is elected strike leader even though her daughter Lamija, who works in reception, is firmly against industrial action. Meanwhile, in the sealed-off presidential suite, a guest from France rehearses a speech. Elsewhere, a television reporter conducts interviews about war and its consequences. Was Gavrilo Princip, the 1914 assassin, a criminal or a national hero? What long shadow does his deed cast into the present?

Buried Land tells the story of ordinary people attempting to realize a dream. Two actors cut a path through the real community and strange reality of Visoko, the small town at the heart of a remarkable claim: the discovery of ancient pyramids, not in Egypt, but central Bosnia. Emir is a Bosnian émigré, removed during the war and now struggling to rediscover his homeland.

A group of actors meet with little money in a unofficial theatre in Naples' Spanish Boroughs. Director's plan is to travel to Sarajevo, still under siege, to stage a classic Eschilus' play about civil war in Tebe. While they rehearse in the theatre cast members come and go and another kind of war goes on every day in nearby streets of old Naples.

Sabina, a divorced mother of two small children, falls in love with an old friend from the Bosnian war. The two plan to marry, but things go terribly wrong.

The story of a forced march of the first proletarian shock brigade during World War II.

In the 1990s, the Yugoslavia Federation falls apart in bloody wars. Perpetual student Milan, a Serb from a patriarchal community, and Kenan, a Muslim cellist, are a gay couple living in Sarajevo. Their lives, intimate and public, are shaken up by the aggression in Bosnia and Herzegovina, whose devastating consequences unfold in inter-ethnic hatred.

Emina, a 28-year-old single mother, embarks on a desperate journey to save her 7-year-old son, Benjamín, who is battling cancer. Their destination is Creel, where they hope to find Edo, a 70-year-old Tarahumara healer residing in the rugged mountains of Chihuahua. This poignant journey reveals the depths of a mother's love and the lengths she will go to protect her child.

Story about a forty-something Sarajevo taxi driver named Fudo (Saša Petrović) who decides to take control of his own destiny. Fudo doesn't earn much, so he supplements his income by offering tips to the local criminal syndicate and turning a blind eye to their nefarious dealings. One day, after offering a particularly bad bit of advice to a violent gangster, Fudo is badly beaten. When Fudo's wife Azra (Daria Lorenci) discovers what has happened, she decides to take the couple's infant son and move out. Now determined to win his wife back and restore peace in the home, Fudo decides to go straight. But cleaning up his act isn't going to be easy, because after borrowing enough cash from black market dealer Sejo (Emir Hadžihafizbegović) to purchase a van and then refusing to aid him in any underhanded dealings, the only person willing to cut him any slack is the sympathetic Azra.

In Sarajevo, a teenager seeking affirmation reveals that she had sex for the first time during a game of 'truth or dare' among middle schoolers. Trapped in her own lie, she fabricates a pregnancy and becomes the center of a controversy that spirals out of control.

Thirteen European directors explore the theme of Sarajevo; what this city has represented in European history over the past hundred years, and what Sarajevo stands for today in Europe. These eminent filmmakers of different generations and origins offer exceptional singular styles and visions.

At the traditional Muslim funeral service for his father Fikret Varupa, sixteen year old boy from Sarajevo, learns that his father owes money to Hamid, a man he does not even know. The debt is considerable and Hamid does not want it to go to the grave with the body, so the debt automatically passes from the father to the son. Since in Bosnia this way of collecting debts, at a funeral, is considered to be utterly humiliating, it is never, ever applied. Fikret and his entire family become subjects of ridicule. Fikret, who is practically still a child, is decisive to "redeem his father's soul". Wishing to repay his father's debt and to secure the forgiveness, Fikret wanders into the real world of Sarajevo, the world that is ruled by post-war chaos, misery and poverty and becomes an ideal target for two corrupted policemen who wish to "help" him: they plant the kidnapped girl on him.

Two young boys summon demons at a sleepover for fun, just to realize that their actions have serious consequences and get their eyes stolen. Now, they're only able to see the world through their phone's cameras point of view.

“Negotiators, how to make peace” is a documentary that takes a penetrating look at the identity and evolution of people who seek solutions to armed conflicts in places such as Colombia, Mexico, South Sudan and the Balkans.

In a story that follows some lives and their respective reincarnations over time, Valerio is a prince in the year one thousand and a doctor of the S.e.r.t. in the year two thousand. Altea on the other hand is a princess, who after a thousand years was reincarnated as a university student who volunteers as a mission and it also operates in the same S.e.r.t.. Their antagonist, in the past as in the present, is a man who was an alchemist and who today is the evil director of the same hospital where the S.e.r.t. is located. of Valerio and Altea. A rather anomalous director, given that he takes advantage of the cover offered by his position to traffic drugs in a big way. A fourth character is added to the three, Herrmugnen, who in the story embodies the mythological figure of the giant hero.

While her middle class, socialist family is falling apart around her, Berina, a young artist, tries to cope both with her awakening sexuality and her mother Jasna's imminent death. Her father cannot accept the fact that life is already happening without his wife. Her younger sister Luna cannot or does not want to grow up. For everybody's sake, Berina wants to save her mother's life and her family the only way she can - through art, and through magic.

Faruk Sego, a failed Bosnian writer facing deportation from Austria, must prove that he has made a cultural contribution to Austrian society. His last chance is an off-theatre troupe that can stage a play he wrote as a young man. Faruk's reluctant return to the theatre will force him to realise what is truly important in life.

Mirko, an average football player at the end of his career, is back in his hometown because of a knee injury. His family owns a restaurant which is on the verge of collapsing, both because of the economic unprofitability, and because of the plans of local criminals who are interested in the plot where the restaurant is located. One of those criminals is Slavko, Mirko's childhood friend, who suddenly returns to his life, just when Mirko needs him the most.

Three friends are hanging out on the roof in Sarajevo. Their hangout is interrupted by the Yugoslavian time traveler who explains them that they are in danger and need to use the time machine to go back to Yugoslavia and warn people that the future generations messed up. They travel back in time to find themselves not in Yugoslavia, but in Iran. Clash of the cultures is evident, and they are forced to hide their identity. But the more they discover the city, the more they realize it is scarily similar to their own.

Sarajevo, 1992. They are called Ahmed, Lana, Sado, Saba, Sahbey, Beba, Nemanja, Marx, Matan. They live in and between wartimes. They have "nafaka", the destiny which was bestowed on them by God Almighty. They have enough gallows humor and courage to believe in freedom and happiness.

A police officer Hamza has to work that night even though his wife has gone into labour, because the police are short-staffed. To make everything worse, it seems that people showing up at the station have decided to prove the old belief about the mysterious powers of the full moon and its influence on human behaviour. In the course of that one night, representatives of all the absurdity and tragedy of life in Bosnia and Herzegovina parade through the station and somehow help Hamza get ready for a new life.

Kym, an Australian tourist, decides to travel to Bosnia. Her guidebook leads her to Višegrad, a small town steeped in history, on the border of Bosnia and Serbia. After a night of insomnia in the 'romantic' Hotel Vilina Vlas, Kym discovers what happened there during the war. She can no longer be an ordinary tourist and her life will never be the same again.

The year is 37 BC. A young Liburnian Volsus is taken by a Roman unit to help in what at first seems a simple task of collecting taxes, but the encounters with local Illyrian tribes soon lead to unexpected turns of events, as they show more resilience to subjugation than meets the eye. We see their archaic, emotional world of quaint and brutal laws and traditions through the eyes of this youngster, regarded by the Romans as a primitive barbarian, and gradually come to understand that their world is not all that different from our own.

In the immediate aftermath of the fall of Srebrenica in 1995, Aida, receiving word that her sons who were taken by Serbian forces may be alive and held in a camp, launches a desperate search through a refugee center crowded with thousands of displaced women. As hope collides with silence, the women come to the realization that no outside help is coming unless they help themselves. Led by Aida, they confront the injustice and deceptions of a political system built on backroom deals with war criminals.

In a dystopian world where soldiers are reduced to numbers, #45 begins to question his march toward an uncertain fate and must choose between obedience and freedom.

Fuke visits his uncle Idriz and aunt Sabira to fix a broken boiler. He soon finds out there's a lot more that needs to be repaired. Idriz and Sabira aren't ready to accept the loss of their only son in the Balkan war, seven years earlier. When Fuke's car refuses to start, Fuke has to stay over in their house. He meets a lot of old friends and neighbors there.

What could be a beautiful fairy tale for some - boy meets girl - could also be the beginning of a horror film for Faruk. The young man is crushed between the dark world of his criminal cousins in Sarajevo and the discovery of love. The film powerfully visualises and contrasts a harshness and tenderness experienced and dreamed.

Thematically diverse stories written by Petar Kocic are bond by the thread, creating the basis for a dramatic story of the events surrounding the student Simeun. In the foreground there's a summary of Simeun's features, some patriotic, but some arrogant as well. These Simeun's actions are manifesto of the complexity of his nature, acting like a tyrant and patriot who displays bravery for the sake of freedom of his people.

Five uniquely moving films about motherhood—bubbling up in the grocery store, the cemetery, or even a car ride—come together in this omnibus film set in Sarajevo.

The armed conflicts of the 1990s not only visibly destroyed the land of the former Yugoslavia, but also left the deepest wounds in the memory of each of its belligerent nations. There are as many different interpretations of that bleak past as there are countries affected. It is therefore hard to expect absolute harmony when, less than two decades since the war ended, a diverse group of veterans gathers at a remote mountain hotel for a therapy session over several days. On the contrary, such a dangerously volatile situation can suddenly ignite by just one thoughtless word, or a seemingly dirty look. That’s because the former soldiers, obstinately holding on to their fundamental masculinity and their prejudices, refusing to expose the inhumanity of the atrocities perpetrated. However, this quietness is just about to be broken and hidden emotions are to be faced.

Arriving on an island, a young woman embarks on a journey to discover her identity and place in the world. Her experiences on the island unravel a tapestry of past events, bringing hidden truths to light. As the situation grows increasingly complex, she is driven towards a profound reconciliation and acceptance, starting with herself and gradually encompassing those around her.

Story about Plavi orkestar (Blue Orchestra), a pop band from Sarajevo who were one of the biggest pop sensations in the 1980s Yugoslavia.

A group of spunky seniors launch an armed rebellion against the employees of their retirement home, where they’ve been subjected to years of abuse and humiliation. Abandoned by their loved ones and left with nothing to lose, they stage an insurrection that grabs headlines, shocks the country — and proves that it’s never too late to find something worth fighting for.

Adaptation of the highly popular children's novel by Branko Copic, who in this book resembles his school and college days in Bihac, Bosnia, in the years before WWII.

Two years after the Bosnian civil war, a town that is slowly rebuilding itself must whip together a democracy when it's announced the U.S. President Bill Clinton might be paying a visit.

A microcosm of the fathomless suffering that remains more than 16 years since the siege of Sarajevo ended, writer-director Aida Begic’s follow-up to her 2008 Cannes Critics’ Week Grand Prize-winning debut Snow tells the story of two orphaned siblings struggling in a transitional society where only the fittest survive.

Ilija is a member of the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) somewhere in Central Bosnia in late 1993. One morning, after a routine mine laying campaign, he learns his younger brother Goran was killed far beyond enemy lines, together with eight other soldiers. Through a friend from the secret service, he finds out the mission was an unofficial one and that Goran and the others were acting as mercenaries. Ilija begins to expose a network of illegal activity involving not only the military, but high-ranking officials. As the investigation becomes more dangerous, his original intention to find out the truth slowly turns into a pathological mission of vengeance.

Asja, a 45-year-old single woman living in Sarajevo, meets Zoran, a 46-year-old banker, at a dating event. Zoran is not there looking for love though, but for forgiveness. During the war in 1993 he was shooting at the city from the opposite side, and he wants to meet his first victim. Now, they both have to relive the pain in their search for forgiveness.

Honest and revealing story about a musician Adnan Saran and his indie rock band Skroz (eng. - Totally). The film talks about their beginnings, war experiences, after-war tours, PTSD, addiction, poetry, brotherhood and friendship.

Documentary movie about phenomenon of rock music scene that emerged during the war in Bosnia, from 1992 until 1995.

Bosnian short film about some people and their problems in the city.

Six young filmmakers from Central and East Europe developed shorts about the theme of 'generation'.