Band Saves Sarajevo with Music in ‘Kiss the Future’ – You Won’t Believe What Happens Next!

During the turbulent period of continuous assaults on Sarajevo in the early 1990s, the locals sought to drown out the echoes of the surrounding siege by immersing themselves in music. This was not only an escape but also an attempt to maintain some semblance of normality amidst Serbian bombings and sniper shots. The narrative of director Nenad Cicin-Sain’s documentary, “Kiss the Future,” revolves around the impact of this underground defiance reaching the ears of Bono, the lead vocalist of U2.

Just as the Oscar-nominated “20 Days at Mariupol” from Ukraine captivates us with its depiction of life under the shadow of an oppressor’s malevolence, and Netflix’s popular documentary “The Greatest Night in Pop” reassures us about the potential goodness when artists unite for a cause, the story narrated in “Kiss the Future” — culminating in U2’s 1997 concert in Sarajevo, two years post the Dayton Peace Agreement — presents a remarkable fusion of gloom and brightness. More specifically, the light that can rise from darkness.

The archival video, home footage, and testimonials in the film serve as a distressing reminder of the Bosnian War’s toll on Sarajevans, as narrated by those who lived through it, including CNN’s Christiane Amanpour and former President Bill Clinton. The film also portrays the process of revival when one of the largest bands globally — represented through interviews with Bono, the Edge, and Adam Clayton — highlights your struggle and fulfills a promise to honor your survival. Barely a few years before the renowned concert at Sarajevo’s Koševo stadium, the former Olympic venue had been a war grave site.

Initially, Cicin-Sain provides a useful background on how the disintegration of Yugoslavia paved the way for a territorial conflict instigated by Bosnian Serbs, under the leadership of Slobodan Milosevic, aimed at fracturing the multiethnic fabric of Sarajevo. As the atrocities escalated, the city fell into ruins, and global leaders stood by idly. However, the culture-deprived Sarajevans built a vibrant, generator-powered underground scene of art, dance, rock (one drummer continued to perform even after losing a hand), theater, and irregular TV broadcasts.

In 1993, Bill Carter, a young American aid worker who had moved to Sarajevo (and a recurring onscreen commentator), plotted to bring global attention to Sarajevo’s crisis by managing to interview Bono when U2’s media-focused Zoo TV tour arrived in nearby Italy. The appeal worked on the leading figure of prestige rock: The footage from that pivotal 13-minute meeting is riveting. We witness Bono’s transformation from an indifferent global superstar to a fully-engaged activist.

Soon after, the band began regularly interrupting their European concerts to connect via live satellite with Carter in undisclosed locations. U2 now concedes that these well-meaning attempts at raising awareness bordered on reality TV: Bono candidly refers to it as “pain and anguish as entertainment” in one of the film’s more honest moments.

Despite its fast pace, well-chosen soundtrack, and energized storytelling, “Kiss the Future” skillfully avoids appearing as a tribute to U2, even though the band’s involvement takes up more than half of the film’s duration. The 1997 concert is depicted as the moment when Bosnians felt they had rejoined the larger global community. However, it seems like a missed chance for not providing more insights into the local bands that were selected to perform before U2, or deeper profiles of the Bosnian participants who found regular solace in art.

In an ironic twist for a pop star striving to raise awareness, Bono’s strained vocal cords left him unable to sing most of the band’s setlist. This might be why footage from that momentous night in Sarajevo hasn’t been widely circulated outside U2’s inner circle. However, it’s also the reason why this heartfelt documentary is the perfect medium for it, given who compensated for all those missing verses: a war-torn but passionate audience of over 40,000 people who knew every lyric and could fill the void with a collective voice.