Safely in Vienna, the Serbian immigrant family of young Milan seems very removed from the war that is keeping them from returning home. When his older brother Sascha arrives with his new Bosnian wife Suza, the family is joyous. However, Sascha has been changed by his war experiences and rumors circulate that he may have been responsible for war crimes and atrocities. Sascha’s father, Bora, supports his son and spouts off Serbian nationalist slogans which ultimately alienate him from his family and the community in Vienna. Sascha rejects his father’s support, chooses to spend much of his time in isolation, and begins to doubt Suza’s motives for joining him. —TCM
Goran Rebić (b. 1968, Vršac, Yugoslavia) studied at the Film Academy in Vienna (1987-91), and he still lives and works in the city. He began as a documentarist with the films I Came (Gekommen bin ich, 1987), Sissi, Black Ship (Sissi, schwarzes Schiff, 1989), Homeland (Domovina, 1990) and At the Edge of the World (Am Rande der Welt, 1992). He made his debut in features with the family drama Jugofilm (1996; Special Prize from the Ecumenical Jury at the 1997 Karlovy Vary IFF), in which he dealt with resonances of the Balkan War. After that he made the full-length documentary The Punishment (Kazna, 2000) using the testimony of people from bombed Belgrade. His next feature, Donau Dunaj Duna Dunav Dunarea, won the Audience Awards at Mannheim-Heidelberg in 2003. —Karlovy Vary IFF