Belagrade Bound
Director Sascha Fülscher
Countries Sweden
Duration 29 min
Synopsis
It’s summer 2009 and the heat is unbearable. Milos peers out over the city. ‘Summer is a long place to be’ he says, ‘you just can’t escape the feeling that every day is the same, when it’s hot.’ Milos is one among many Belgrade youngsters that wish that it would be possible to erase and forget all about the wars and conflicts during the 90’s. But it’s not, and ten years after the fall of Milosevic, Belgrade still struggles with his remains. While the discrepancies between nationalists and western friendly youngsters grow, the European Union takes very slow steps towards the Serbian wish for acceptance, integration and visa liberation. While Milos tries to forget and ignore, Majda is fighting for change. ‘It’s not strange that they get really nationalistic and conservative’ she says, referring to a growing number of young nationalists, ‘being stuck here in Serbia, they just never had the chance to see anything else.’ Tough visa requirements are still turning young dreams into disappointment and nourish local patriotism and discontent. Jelena, on the other hand, found another solution - she discovered the world through her international friends. ‘Belgrade means everything to me’ she says, ‘it’s not a perfect city, but it’s mine!’
It’s summer 2009 and the heat is unbearable. Milos peers out over the city. ‘Summer is a long place to be’ he says, ‘you just can’t escape the feeling that every day is the same, when it’s hot.’ Milos is one among many Belgrade youngsters that wish that it would be possible to erase and forget all about the wars and conflicts during the 90’s. But it’s not, and ten years after the fall of Milosevic, Belgrade still struggles with his remains. While the discrepancies between nationalists and western friendly youngsters grow, the European Union takes very slow steps towards the Serbian wish for acceptance, integration and visa liberation. While Milos tries to forget and ignore, Majda is fighting for change. ‘It’s not strange that they get really nationalistic and conservative’ she says, referring to a growing number of young nationalists, ‘being stuck here in Serbia, they just never had the chance to see anything else.’ Tough visa requirements are still turning young dreams into disappointment and nourish local patriotism and discontent. Jelena, on the other hand, found another solution - she discovered the world through her international friends. ‘Belgrade means everything to me’ she says, ‘it’s not a perfect city, but it’s mine!’