Kosovo: fragile peace

Kosovo is a tiny province in former Yugoslavia. The population is 85% ethnic Albanian with a minority of Serbs and other ethnic groups. Kosovo has a long history of ethnic fighting. This documentary follows the aftermath of the bloodshed which took place in Kosovo during the late 1990s when thousands of ethnic Albanians were either killed or expelled from their homes by the Serbs under the leadership of Slobodan Milosevic, former President of Yugoslavia, and the responding 78 day bombing campaign by NATO in 1999 in retaliation which finally led to the withdrawal of Milosevic and his forces. It tells of an international mission by the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) to stabilise and democratise the war-torn country of Kosovo and to try and bring about a reconciliation between the Albanians and Serbs through organising and supervising free and fair elections. As Director of Democratisation for the OSCE, Canadian lawyer, Carolyn McCool is responsible for facilitating and ensuring that all parties participate in the region’s first free central election to be held on 19 November 2001 - this is by no means an easy task when it comes to the minority Serbs and other ethnic groups who now live in enclaves surrounded by KFOR security forces and who feel that they are now the victims of the conflict. Carolyn is joined by her 20-year-old daughter Kate Oja, on holidays from Vancouver, and it is through the eyes of mother and daughter which provides us with an insight into just how fragile maintaining the peace can be and how difficult and tenuous a situation it is which still exists between the ethnic groups in Kosovo. It would seem by many in Kosovo that rhetoric is one thing, reality another. An excellent film documenting the tension leading up to Election Day. Includes interviews from all sides and Kate’s video diary, along with her personal commentary, of her travels and experiences during her time in Kosovo. Narrated by Holly Burke.