War-torn Bosnia in 1992. The city of Sarajevo is besieged and burning. Great art treasures are lost in the flames and only one library remains. Amid bullets and bombs, a group of book-lovers risk their lives to rescue 10,067 irreplaceable Islamic manuscripts. At stake is a nation’s history. Using first hand testimony and dramatisation, this film is a gripping tale of wartime Sarajevo, and also of the importance of books to the identity of a people.
...grippingly told through interviews, original footage and dramatised scenesObserver
A powerful and elegantly filmed tribute to the protection of knowledge during the horrors of warMail Weekend Magazine
...recalling with heartbreaking plausibility the fear and denial that engulf civilised people when their world is consumed by lunacy.The Guardian
inspiring stuff...The Times
this first-rate documentary... has a lot to say about the strength of human spirit and the importance of books in keeping us human, and humaneRadio Times