Welcome to Sarajevo (1997)

Journalist Floyd from the U.S., Michael Henderson from the U.K., and their teams meet at the beginning of the Bosnian war in Sarajevo. During their reports, they find an orphanage run by ... See full summary »

Director:

Michael Winterbottom

Writers:

Michael Nicholson (book), Frank Cottrell Boyce

Stars:

Stephen Dillane, Woody Harrelson, Marisa Tomei

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Stephen Dillane	...	Michael Henderson
Woody Harrelson	...	Flynn
Marisa Tomei	...	Nina
Emira Nusevic	...	Emira
Kerry Fox	...	Jane Carson
Goran Visnjic	...	Risto Bavic
James Nesbitt	...	Gregg
Emily Lloyd	...	Annie McGee
Igor Dzambazov	...	Jacket
Gordana Gadzic	...	Mrs. Savic
Juliet Aubrey	...	Helen Henderson
Drazen Sivak	...	Zeljko
Vesna Orel	...	Munira
Davor Janjic	...	Dragan
Vladimir Jokanovic	...	Emira's Uncle

Storyline

Journalist Floyd from the U.S., Michael Henderson from the U.K., and their teams meet at the beginning of the Bosnian war in Sarajevo. During their reports, they find an orphanage run by the devoted Mrs. Savic near the frontline. Henderson gets so involved in the kids' problems, that he decides to take one of the children, Emira, illegally back to England. He is assisted by American aid worker Nina.

---

Plot Keywords:

journalist | sarajevo | orphanage | england | bosnian war | 

---

Taglines:

To get the story, they'll risk everything.

---

Genres:

Drama | War

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for brutal images/war atrocities and language

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English Serbian Bosnian

Release Date:

26 November 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dobrodošli u Sarajevo

Filming Locations:

Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina

Box Office

Budget:

$9,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$89,274, 30 November 1997, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$339,648, 25 January 1998

Company Credits

Production Co:

Miramax, Channel Four Films, Dragon Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Woody Harrelson has appeared in such politically themed movies as LBJ (2016), where he played the title nickname character of former President Lyndon Johnson, Game Change (2012), Barry Levinson's political satire Wag the Dog (1997), Battle in Seattle (2007), and Welcome to Sarajevo (1997). The following year after LBJ (2016), Harrelson played the title character in Wilson (2017), but this was not former President Woodrow Wilson, as with the earlier Wilson (1944).

---

Goofs

The song which plays as Michael and Risto enter the apartment to search for the mother, is "M.O.R." by Blur. This song was released in 1997, despite the movie taking place during the siege of Sarajevo, years earlier.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Title Card: In 1991, the country of Yugoslavia began to fracture into separate nations. On the pretext of maintaining Yugoslavia's integrity, the Serbian dominated Yugoslav army attacked first Slovenia, then Croatia.
Title Card: In April 1992, in the hope of securing international protection, Bosnia declared its independence. This was rejected by many Bosnian Serbs. Aided by the remnants of the Yugoslav army, they set out to claim as much territory as they could.
Title Card: They systematically cleansed towns and ...
[...]

---

Connections

Featured in The Greatest Ever War Films (2014)

---

Soundtracks

Adagio in G Minor for Strings & Organ
Written by Tomaso Albinoni
Performed by Remo Jaizotto

User Reviews

well......

No offence, but Hollywood cannot capture feelings and visions of Balkan tragedy in movies, only directors from Balkan can make masterpieces like Underground, Lepa Sela Lepo Gore etc. and they show reality of the Balkan, some say true, some say not true, but these movies are based on situations that Balkan had and its suffering. Welcome to Sarajevo is not a good movie, its very tragic but soooo much is lacking.