277 | Nenad Cicin-Sain (Kiss The Future)

My Summer Lair Chapter #277: How Do You Kiss The Future If You’re Already Married To The Past?

Kiss The Future is a potent documentary: Witness the resilience of the people of Sarajevo through art and music and the tale of a post-war concert by U2.

Directed by Nenad Cicin-Sain, produced by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, featuring Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton of U2, and Bill Clinton this is an uplifting documentary about undaunted creativity.

During the Siege of Sarajevo between 1992 and 1996 Bosnians refused to surrender to the war. Instead they hooked up generators and put on plays, a beauty contest and played loud punk rock.

“Our punk rock was a weapon to tell em fuck you. Fuck you.  You can’t do anything to us.”
~ Enes Zlatar

I’m sharing the famous folks to draw you in. Just know this is not a U2 documentary.

While highlighting the intelligent power of creativity to repel the darkness. Creation in the midst of destruction is the dark soil where hope grows. 

For a documentary it has a killer soundtrack: Foo Fighters All My Life, The Clash, U2 songs including (duh) Miss Sarajevo and Public Enemy’s anthem Harder Than You Think perfectly cued to when NATO bombed the hell outta Milosevic’s forces.

“A war going on so where y’all at?
“Fight the Power” comes great responsibility
You don’t stand for something, you fall for anything
Harder than you think, it’s a beautiful thing.”
Word: Chuck D.

Like The Last Dance…you didn’t hafta be a Jordan/NBA fan to dig the doc. Same thing here, if you ain’t a U2 fan all good…it helps but this is bigger than the popular Irish band.
We’ve in some ways gone full circle. The documentary is timeless because there’s always an unjust war unfolding. (How long must we sing this song?)

If U2’s Zoo TV taught us anything it’s that you can always change the channel.

Behold…the Kiss The Future trailer:

And so I mine the past with the Nenand the director of Kiss the Future to better understand how we can confront the present. Prepare for a conversation that covers war, Zoo TV, Bill Carter, love and human connection and…The Clash.

Kiss The Future @ W • T • F

Host Sammy Younan

Recorded: Tuesday, February 20, 2024 at 2:20 pm (EST)

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