
The documentary Kiss the Future will make its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival 2023. The film shows how music flourished in the middle of a war in Sarajevo. The film is directed by Nenad Cicin-Sain as he reveals how U2, one of the biggest rock bands in the world, rallied the hopes of Sarajevans.
It is produced by Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Sarah Anthony, and Ned O’Hanlon.
In an exclusive video published by Deadline, one Bosnian musician who survived the siege said, “When I heard the music of U2 politically they represent something that I realised in this war, in Sarajevo war, was a personification of our resistance.”
The front man of Sarajevo band Sikter says, “U2 during the war, they really had something to say… that was really important to us.”
Members of U2, including Bono, have been interviewed for the film. “All of us use music to protect ourselves,” Bono said, “as a kind of shield against all the dark forces inside our head. In Sarajevo, there was war. They were in the middle of it. And they were using music as a shield against actual dark forces.”
Kiss the Future is screening as a Berlinale Special Gala presentation. It’s a production of Affleck and Damon’s Pearl Street Films, Good Wolves Productions, and Dublin-based Maverick. Drew Vinton is the executive producer.
The film is written by Bill S. Carter, who also appears in the film, recounting how he helped enlist U2 in the effort to bring the world’s attention to Sarajevo in the 1990s.