Whose Is This Song?

In her search for the origins of a haunting melody, filmmaker Adela Peeva travels to Turkey, Greece, Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia, Serbia and Bulgaria. The trip is filled with funny moments, suspense, tragedy and surprise as each country's citizens passionately claim the song to be their own and even furnish elaborate histories explaning its orgins. The tune emerges again and again in different forms: as a love song, a religious hymn, a revolutionary anthem, and even a military march. Various communities use it as a symbol of their identity; some perceive the melody as a link to the other community, while others interpret the different text and context as a barrier against them. The powerful emotions and stubborn nationalism raised by one song seem at times comical and at others eerily telling. In a region besieged by ethnic hatred and war, what begins as a light-hearted investigation ends as a sociological and historical exploration of the deep misunderstandings between the people of the Balkans. (CinEast)