Sarajevo

Set during the Bosnian Civil War in the 1990's, Sarajevo tells the story of two different characters from Sarajevo whose lives and families are torn apart because of the horrors of war. Both characters call Sarajevo home; yet they find themselves displaced from Sarajevo by the war, and forced to take sides. Sonja, a young Serbian woman from Sarajevo, is a former ballerina now turned militia sniper whose deadly aim is matched only by her precision as a ballerina. Faruk, a Muslim Bosnian and former professional ballet dancer from Sarajevo, whose family is crushed by the events of history and whose form of artistic protest calls to Sonja in ways she cannot quite balance with her current choice to join the fight. Both characters journey to America in the most surprising way, only to return to Sarajevo at the most unlikely of times, in the midst of war. Sarajevo narrates the loss of home and identity, but also the triumphant return of human dignity that can only be found through free artistic expression in the midst of great suffering. Gulias mixes dark humor with direct description of tragic events to weave a narrative about a people and a city torn apart by war but brought back together by creativity, free expression, and humility.