BERLIN: Setting out to tell the story of Sarajevo's four-year siege in the 1990s, Nenad Sicin-Sain thought he was documenting Europe's last big war - only for Russia to invade Ukraine during filming, heightening the emotions of an already fraught project.
"Kiss the Future", which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival on Sunday, tells the story of the Bosnian capital's encirclement through the eyes of the artists and musicians who kept performing throughout, striking up an unlikely bond with Irish rock band U2.
"We started making a film on the last war in Europe and then a new war broke out," Sicin-Sain told reporters. "The story stayed the same but the emotions became more visceral."
Home to Muslim Bosniaks, Orthodox Serbs and Catholic Croats, Sarajevo was the most diverse of Yugoslavia's cities, and suffered the most when the country broke up, placed under siege by ethnic Serbs trying to carve out as large a slice of the country as possible.
Through interviews with artists, aid workers and U2 lead singer Bono, the film remembers the city's isolation, until artists hit on the idea of bringing the city's plight to world attention via telecasts into U2's stadium concerts.
It was the artists' resilience that attracted producers Matt Damon and Ben Affleck to the project.
"It's about the resilience of all of us and that's a wonderful thing to put out into the world, particularly now," Damon told Reuters. His production company is in the early stages of researching a film about the war in Ukraine, he added.
Footage of Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic - now serving a life sentence for genocide - denying war crimes makes the parallels with today's war inescapable.
"Everything that happened 30 years ago is so strongly and deeply connected to events that are happening today," said Vesna Zaimovic, a Sarajevan who helped make the documentary.
Scenes of Sarajevans performing punk rock in cellars as rockets rain down above bring to mind Kyiv's flourishing theatre scene, and the parallel is made explicit in the final frames when footage from last year of Russian President Vladimir Putin addressing a war rally is shown.
The film presents U2's 1997 post-siege concert in Sarajevo, where Bono urged the city to look with hope to the post-war and "kiss the future" as a moment of catharsis, but it also serves as a reminder of how long recovery can take.
To this day, the city has yet to host a larger concert.
ETX Studio
Mon Feb 20 2023
![Another war: How Sarajevo's musicians sang through a siege Another war: How Sarajevo's musicians sang through a siege](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2023-02/41676884853_BERLIN.jpg)
Producer Matt Damon, Exec Producer Drew Winton, Director Nenad Cicin-Sain, Screenwriter Bill S. Carter, Producers Sarah Anthony of 'Kiss the Future' team at the 73rd Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin, Germany, Feb 19, 2023. - REUTERS
Tumpuan Isnin – 08 Julai 2024
Ikuti rangkuman berita utama yang menjadi tumpuan di Astro AWANI.
'Jeff' dinobat siput terpantas dunia, menang Kejohanan Dunia Lumba Siput
Tahun ini, siput bernama Jeff dinobatkan sebagai pemenang, menang saingan akhir dengan masa 4 minit dan 3 saat. Begitupun, kepantasan Jeff tidak dapat memadam rekod yang dibuat pada tahun 1995 oleh seekor siput bernama Archie.
![Pentadbiran Prabowo-Gibran dijangka perkukuh industri sawit Indonesia Pentadbiran Prabowo-Gibran dijangka perkukuh industri sawit Indonesia](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-07/81720368598_TBPrabowo.jpg)
Pentadbiran Prabowo-Gibran dijangka perkukuh industri sawit Indonesia
Kerajaan baharu yang akan dipimpin oleh Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming Raka dijangka memperkukuh daya saing produk minyak sawit sebagai komoditi strategik untuk pasaran domestik dan antarabangsa.
![Kanak-kanak lelaki maut selepas terjatuh ke dalam tasik Kanak-kanak lelaki maut selepas terjatuh ke dalam tasik](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-01/61706067730_TBgarisanpolis.jpg)
Kanak-kanak lelaki maut selepas terjatuh ke dalam tasik
Seorang kanak-kanak lelaki berusia sembilan tahun maut selepas terjatuh ke dalam tasik dipercayai ketika sedang mencari lokan di Taman Tasik Teratai Fasa 2 Serendah, Hulu Selangor.
Ribuan umat Islam zahir solidariti kepada Palestin di Shah Alam
Bertemakan Gaza Bangkit, program pada Ahad malam itu turut mengundang pendakwah dari Indonesia, Ustaz Abdul Somad Batubara untuk menyampaikan ceramah.
NGO, belia perlu ambil iktibar peristiwa hijrah - PM
Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim menyeru pertubuhan bukan kerajaan dan gerakan belia mengambil iktibar daripada peristiwa Hijrah Nabi Muhammad SAW untuk mengembalikan kegemilangan negara.
Kehadiran ATM di Timur Sabah berikan keyakinan masyarakat setempat
Kehadiran pasukan Angkatan Tentera Malaysia (ATM) di Timur Sabah meningkatkan keyakinan masyarakat setempat serta merancakkan lagi pembangunan sektor pelancongan, ekonomi dan sosial di kawasan itu.
![Berita tempatan pilihan sepanjang hari ini Berita tempatan pilihan sepanjang hari ini](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2023-12/61703329565_TBBERITAx.jpg)
Berita tempatan pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Berikut adalah berita yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang Ahad, 7 Julai 2024.
![Berita antarabangsa pilihan sepanjang hari ini Berita antarabangsa pilihan sepanjang hari ini](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-03/71709993909_TBBERITAx.jpg)
Berita antarabangsa pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Berikut adalah yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang Ahad, 7 Julai 2024.
Enam cedera hari pertama Festival Larian Lembu di Sepanyol
Meskipun ada yang cedera, acara tersebut sentiasa mendapat perhatian dan tahun ini, ratusan orang mengejar enam ekor lembu jantan di bandar itu.
![Bosnia bina hospital sementara susulan lonjakan kes COVID-19 Bosnia bina hospital sementara susulan lonjakan kes COVID-19](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/http://img.astroawani.com/2020-08/61596901916_VirusOutbreakBosnia.jpg)
Bosnia bina hospital sementara susulan lonjakan kes COVID-19
Menteri Pembangunan Sarajevo Faruk Kapidzic pada Sabtu memaklumkan bahawa kemudahan itu akan berfungsi dengan segera.
![Vincent Tan luaskan lagi empayar, beli kelab Sarajevo pula Vincent Tan luaskan lagi empayar, beli kelab Sarajevo pula](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/http://img.astroawani.com/2013-12/61388029844_295x200.jpg)
Vincent Tan luaskan lagi empayar, beli kelab Sarajevo pula
Kelab Sarajevo yang ditubuhkan pada 1946, diisytiharkan muflis selepas menanggung hutang bernilai jutaan marka.