Pristina, Kosovo, 31 December 2003. Four years after NATO bombed Kosovo continuously for 77 days to end the Balkans war, the UN has officially taken over and landed its largest ever mission of 45,000 peacekeepers in the capital. But the conflict is not over-by November 1999 many Albanians who fled the war have returned, causing panic among the remaining Serbs, who in turn flee Kosovo fearing reprisal attacks.

Of the 50,000 Serbs living here before the war, only 100 remain. Evicted from their homes in June 1999, they had no option but to squat in the Yu Program building, a downtown residential block formerly occupied by state officials. Five years pass and they never, ever, leave their one-building ghetto, full of fear after hundreds of street attacks, beatings and kidnappings by Albanian extremists and despite the presence of UNMIK, the world's largest peacekeeping mission.

UNMIK TITANIK is not so much about the war as it is about the resilient nature of human beings, their ability to survive even in the most difficult situations and to make the most of what they have. The documentary introduces teenage Stefan, who bears no visible marks of the previous years' atrocities. In fact, his spirit is alive with the coming of the New Year.

"Wait, it's too early... At 10 o'clock, when it starts, the whole city is gonna be bright!" he declares giving the director an exuberant glimpse of the city from the building's rooftop, even while gunshots ring all around.

The movie gives a bleak lesson on the consequences of ethnic division, one that we in Nepal might do well to learn before it's too late. Communities that lived in harmony for centuries suddenly faced questions that eventually lead to a great divide that caused neighbours to turn on one another.

Filmed, edited, written, directed and produced by former journalist and self-taught filmmaker Boris Mitic, UNMIK TITANIK brims with political sarcasm and black humour but it's all presented in a positive, liberating way.

UNMIK TITANIK
At Baggikhana, Yala Maya Kendra, Patan Dhoka
Sunday 28 May, 5.30 PM
Rs 50