It's the centenary commemoration of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914, the event that precipitated World War One. EU bigwigs are descending on the Hotel Europa for the event, but the hotel is in crisis, unable to pay its bills. While the staff, who haven't been paid in months, is planning to strike, the besieged manager turns to the gangster who runs the sleazy nightclub in the basement for strong-arm help, which in turn alarms the head receptionist, who sides with her boss but fears for the safety of her laundress mom, who's leading the strikers. Meanwhile, a coke-snorting security guard is spying on a visiting French diplomat as he rehearses his big speech, while up on the roof a TV reporter is interviewing the handsome Serbian nationalist who bears the same name as the assassin of 1914.

With breathtaking fluidity, Oscar®-winning Bosnian director Danis Tanović (No Man's Land) keeps all these tops spinning in a dizzying thriller that deftly and satirically mirrors and illuminates the conflicts that have torn the Balkans apart for a century.

Winner: Grand Jury Prize, FIPRESCI Prize, Berlin