Trumpets‘ Republic

The trumpet provides the soundtrack for Serbian life - once used to signal the launch of military attacks, now played to mark births, deaths and everything in between. This evocative documentary explores the instrument's deep and abiding role in the national consciousness. In Belgrade, still recovering from the wounds of war and international ostracism; in the tiny rural village of Rti, where the amiable and somewhat dreamy conductor of the local orchestra prepares for the renowned annual brass festival down the road in Guča; and at the raucous festival itself - the only place in the country, as one attendee puts it, where Serbs can celebrate their national identity without being branded nationalists.