Esma, a single mother living in the Grbavica neighborhood of Sarajevo, is compelled to deal with history when her 12-year-old daughter Sara demands proof that her father died a martyr in the war. In actuality, Sara is the product of a POW camp rape, and when Sara needs the proof to cover the cost of a school trip the truth comes out. Still living in the shadow of the Balkan war, Esma must confront a painful past and Sara a painful truth. The revelation brings about the beginning of a closure that Esma so desperately needs, and despite an ugly basis for the relationship, a way for mother and daughter to move forward. Director Jasmila Žbanić`s debut is astute in its awareness of how an overwhelming past informs the present, and exerts its influence on every aspect of life. A film that expertly visualizes the conflicted nature of modern Sarajevo.