JOY OF LIFE

In June 2000, the ”Balkan Philharmonic Orchestra“ played its first Concert in Skopje. The musicians come from different areas of the Balkans, several of which are enemies: Macedonia, Bosnia- Herzegovina, Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, Greece and Turkey. The documentary accompanies some of them during the preparations for the concert. Violinists from Sarajevo, Thessaloniki and Izmir, a cellist from Bucharest and a choir master from Sofia are visited in their hometowns. They talk about their lives, music and the problems in their countries shattered by war, poverty or political changes. But no matter how different their views might be: They all believe in the power of music to overcome boundaries. A flutist from Sarajevo says that for him music serves as a ”weapon“ against the horrors of war and the depressing circumstances in his native country, and the Bulgarian conductor believes that art can unify people. The monologues are interspersed with the rehearsals – up to the big evening when the orchestra plays Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony – according to the choir master the ”hymn of the nations“.