Edin Avdagić 'Koja'

Sarajevo Songs of Woe is a filmic triptych containing of the two tales (“Blue Ballad for Lovers” / “Blue Rondo for Survivors”) and the connecting middle part “Blue Psalm for Wolves” flowing into each other and so being united and building up one universal mosaic of life situated in Sarajevo.

Fudo is a drug addict who decides to quit heroin and reconcile with his mother after his best friend dies. However, people continue to perceive him as an addict and refuse to believe he has really changed. Estranged from the people around him and tortured by feelings of guilt over his best friend's death, Fudo is at risk of returning to his old life.

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?

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.

Almir is a closeted gay man struggling with self-acceptance. Left high and dry by his married lover, Almir decides to spend New Year’s Eve with his dying friend Militsa. As the city celebrates, the two talk about their lives and loves, but does Almir dare to tell his closest friend his deepest secret?

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.

Tarik lives alone and works in the warehouse of a supermarket. He's lonely and kills time hanging around with two colleagues. New worker comes to the small shop next to the supermarket. Tarik likes her and secretly starts to draw on the glass of the shop, hidden by the night, away from the prying eyes of society in which any kind of emotion is a sign of weakness.

Tica (Birdy) a war orphan arrives to Sarajevo with his newborn daughter urgently needing surgical procedure. Facing his new appalling reality, Tica embarks into the night where demons of the past are always ready.

Tender