Sarajevo (2014 film)


Sarajevo is a 2014 German-Austrian biographical television film that depicts the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria.

Plot

On 28 June 1914, the Austro-Hungarian heir presumptive Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Este and his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg are travelling through Sarajevo on the 525th anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo. As a result of the first attack on the Archduke's life, the Austrian examining magistrate Leo Pfeffer is given the task of capturing the person responsible for the attack. Whilst interrogating the assassin, Pfeffer finds out there has been a second attack on the Archduke and his spouse, in which both are fatally injured. Bosnian Serb assassin Gavrilo Princip is then arrested for his part in the second attack. The low amount of 36 available policemen, who were patrolling the route the Archduke was travelling on. After the first attack, the convoy headed towards the hospital, but an apparent false turn led to the second attack, where the second attacker was located, causing doubts in Pfeffer's mind. Whilst being tortured, one of the perpetrator's confessed, whereby evidence and witnesses disappeared. In the process of his investigations, Pfeffer encounters further inconsistencies, but is forced by his superiors to state the assassination as a conspiracy by Serbia. As Pfeffer turns in his final report to close the film, it is accepted by his superior apathetically, as Austro-Hungarian politicians and military have already decided the assassination of the Archduke would be used as a pretext for an attack on Serbia.

Cast

The film is a German-Austrian cooperation between German television channel ZDF and Austrian channel ORF. It was commissioned as part of the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War.

Awards and nominations

The film received the following awards and nominations:
" An oppressive storyline" - TV Spielfilm
"The ZDF / ORF co-production defies the assassination attempt of Sarajevo, whose sequence and its consequences are generally known, yet still of value compared to a documentary on the topic" - tittelbach.tv