Tabija

“One day a boy appeared. No one knew where he came from. As the boy grew, he began to dream about the fortress. He visited all the towns and cities in the golden valley, hoping to find true love.” A slow piano melody echoes through Sarajevo’s prefabricated buildings. Faruk, who lives with his grandmother, battles on like many of his peers in an attempt to escape poverty by doing shady deals. One day in a department store he meets Mona, who comes from a completely different Sarajevo: from the modern, hermetically sealed villas on the outskirts. Boy meets girl. Tabija oscillates between thriller and fairy tale. In multi-layered images, the film tells of the romantic dreams of young people and simultaneously documents tangibly the atmosphere of post-war Sarajevo. At the moment when Mona and Faruk look down from the white fortress on the city into the golden valley, on a world in which their connection is not intended, there is also a declaration of love for Sarajevo. (Berlinale)