In present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina, economically depressed towns turn themselves into tourist destinations in order to survive—deliberately forming their own cultural narratives. Centering on four different locations, The Stone Speakers interrogates a nation’s contradictory memories. Made with subtlety and tactful distance, director Igor Drljaca’s film reveals the traumatic consequences of being a country that is stuck in a postwar identity crisis.

Mirza, a young Sarajevo orphan, earns easy money by assisting a local drug dealer. Dispatched on a job one day, a chance encounter makes him painfully aware of his despicable role - but equally of the possibility of changing things for the better.