Based on the book 'Natasha's Story' by Michael Nicholson, the film follows a group of US and UK journalists, who go and report the Bosnian war in Sarajevo. There, they encounter and soon become impressed by dedicated woman who runs an orphanage to help 200 children during the war, ending up with devoting their entire life to support the orphanage and heal the war.
Winterbottom takes a recent history the rest of the world already was beginning to forget and throws it into a sharp, human focus.
USA Today
January 01, 2000
Loosely structured, it keeps its focus despite lots of dramatic wiggle room.
New Times
June 17, 2004
Good set-up; less pay-off than I'd hoped.
New York Times
January 01, 2000
However closely they mirror the real experience of Mr. Nicholson and others, some of the shocks here are too sadly predictable.
Salon.com
January 01, 2000
Messy and visceral, with an articulate, pointed anger that's recognizably British, "Welcome to Sarajevo" hits with an impact that's not diminished by the fact that Sarajevo's uneasy peace has held.
