i saw this film tonight at the image out film festival in rochester and what i saw be a powerful story about both love and hate reaching across ethnic and religious boundary . the love be what mario drmec and tarik filipovic have for each other . same sex couple have it bad enough there and but in this case mario be a moslem from bosnia and tarik be a serb . the story be tell to u in flashback by mario be interview by a french journalist play by jeanne moreau . a yugoslavia break apart the various ethnic group resume all their ancient hatred and start kill each other with vehemence a we all read in the ninety . mario in order to pass into the christian serbian area go into drag . it seem a though the christian check out the private of all the male and if theyre circumcise a moslem have to do as well a jew theyre summarily shoot . the ruse work and but the lover have to continue the masquerade when they get to tarik village . or at least until a helpful friend can obtain the necessary document to go west to the other side of the rhine in europe . of course when someone do discover the ruse there be unforeseen consequence . yugoslavia itself be a creation of western european fatuity . serbia be on the allied side of world war i and they get a kind of hegemony over a whole lot of territory formerly belong to both the hapsburg and ottoman empire . at versailles the serb king be make monarch over the whole polyglot nation and after world war ii and a very charismatic leader name josip broz tito lead an independent marxist or socialist government . when marshal tito die and the country itself die . hold together by an extraordinary man the one thing tito do not do be solve any ancient hatred . what happen here happen all over what be yugoslavia and only this story have gay angle to it . love and even same sex love can bridge all kind of boundary if be open to it . the friend who be help the lover urge them to go west to western europe where they can live free and prosper . all they have there be ethnic hatred . one other very valuable lesson here be that the film do focus on the atrocity of the serb and the bosnians . remember this be now a decade where admittedly moslem be do some horrible thing in many part of the globe . i be glad that the villain here be not one religion and but a fanatical fundamentalist interpretation of any religion with which people can justify all kind of barbarism . ahmed imamovic the director have receive death threat from all side in the former yugoslavia for even create a story involve gay people there . the man have risk his life for this powerful story and buy a ticket and do not miss it .