Nenad Cicin-Sain’s documentary tells the story of a maverick film-maker who, with extraordinary persistence, induced the Irish rockers to keep the spotlight firmly on the Bosnian war
Thirty years on, the Bosnian war still has the power to horrify, with its genocidal massacres and concentration camps in the heart of Europe even as international leaders solemnly avowed their determination never to repeat the nightmare of the second world war. Even now, cultural commentators call the 1990s the “Seinfeld decade” where nothing happened, disregarding the carnage in former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.
Nenad Cicin-Sain’s music documentary gives us an unofficial, unlicensed look at the nightmare of Sarajevo and the way that rock music kept humanity and hope alive: the rough-and-ready gigs and discos happening in Sarajevo’s battered garages and bomb shelters, while war raged above. It also tells the story of a maverick American journalist and film-maker called Bill Carter, a member of the ragtag expat group of aid workers, musicians and artists in Sarajevo, who was electrified by the sight of U2’s Bono on MTV talking about the Bosnian war. With extraordinary persistence, Carter got an interview with Bono for Bosnian TV, induced the band to do live TV linkup interviews on stage with Bosnian people during their colossal Zoo TV Tour and finally inspired the band to mount a giant concert in Sarajevo in 1997 supported by local bands and a Muslim women’s choir, after the Dayton Accords peace agreement. People interviewed here believe that the Bosnian war only properly ended when Bono took to the stage and yelled: “Fuck the past, kiss the future!”
