** Opening night introduction at 7:00pm on May 25th, by Gordana Crnkovic, Professor of Slavic Languages and Literature and of Comparative Literature, Cinema and Media at the University of Washington! **

Sarajevo, 1994. In the midst of the Bosnian War, one man is bold (and crazy) enough to accept a gig while the city is under siege. That man is Iron Maiden’s charismatic frontman Bruce Dickinson and with his previous band Skunkworks, composed of guitarist Alex Dickson, bassist Chris Dale and drummer Alessandro (Alex) Elena, they delved into the then hell-on-earth to perform a show for the people trapped in the city.

Twenty years later, filmmaker Tarik Hodzic and his crew found and interviewed who attended the concert on December 10 along with members of the band and the security that worked the event. In spite of bombs, shootings, threats of starvation, electricity and water shortage, the fans that attended were not just heavy metal enthusiasts but needed an escape. Alternating between archival footage from this historic show and interviews, Scream For Me Sarajevo takes us back to a historical show that was both intense as well as an extraordinary human experience.

“The gig was immense, intense and probably the biggest show in the world at that moment for the audience and for us. That the world didn’t really know didn’t matter. It changed the way I viewed life, death and other human beings.” – Bruce Dickinson, What Does This Button Do? An Autobiography

“The band’s reminiscences are deeply felt as well as comical. But the doc belongs to the Bosnian metalheads at the gig, now in their 30s and 40s. As teenagers during the siege, every day they were convinced they were going to die. In photos taken at the gig their faces are wild with energy and life.” – Cath Clarke, The Guardian