''Sarajevo'' is a 2014 German-Austrian biographical television film that depicts the

assassination Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...

Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria Archduke Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria of Austria, (18 December 1863 – 28 June 1914) was the heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary. His assassination in Sarajevo was the most immediate cause of World War I. F ...

Plot

On 28 June 1914, the

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

heir presumptive An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir apparent or a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question. ...

Archduke Franz Ferdinand of

Austria-Este The House of Habsburg-Este (), also known as the House of Austria-Este () and holder of the title of Archduke of Austria-Este (; ), is a cadet branch of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine and also descends from the House of Este in the cognatic lin ...

and his wife

Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg (; cs, Žofie Marie Josefína Albína hraběnka Chotková z Chotkova a Vojnína 1 March 1868 – 28 June 1914) was the wife of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. Their assas ...

are travelling through Sarajevo on the 525th anniversary of the

Battle of Kosovo The Battle of Kosovo ( tr, Kosova Savaşı; sr, Косовска битка) took place on 15 June 1389 between an army led by the Serbian Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović and an invading army of the Ottoman Empire under the command of Sultan ...

. 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 were killed.

Bosnian Serb The Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sr-Cyrl, Срби у Босни и Херцеговини, Srbi u Bosni i Hercegovini) are one of the three constitutive nations (state-forming nations) of the country, predominantly residing in the politi ...

assassin

Gavrilo Princip Gavrilo Princip ( sr-Cyrl, Гаврило Принцип, ; 25 July 189428 April 1918) was a Bosnian Serb student who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. Prin ...

is then arrested for his part in the second attack. The magistrate learns that only 36 policemen had been available for 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. All of this causes doubts in Pfeffer's mind. Whilst being tortured, one of the perpetrators confesses, and then evidence and witnesses disappear. 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 Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

. As Pfeffer submits his final report, Austro-Hungarian politicians and the military have already decided the assassination of the Archduke would be used as a pretext for an invasion of Serbia.

Cast

Florian Teichtmeister Florian may refer to: People * Florian (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname * Florian, Roman emperor in 276 AD * Saint Florian (250 – c. 304 AD), patron saint of Poland and Upper Austria, al ...

as Leo Pfeffer * Reinhard Forcher as

* Michaela Ehrenstein as

Eugen Knecht Eugen is a masculine given name which may refer to: * Archduke Eugen of Austria (1863–1954), last Habsburg Grandmaster of the Teutonic Order from 1894 to 1923 * Prince Eugen, Duke of Närke (1865–1947), Swedish painter, art collector, and pat ...

* Mateusz Dopieralski as

Nedeljko Čabrinović Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, were assassinated on 28 June 1914 by Bosnian Serb student Gavrilo Princip. They were shot at close range while b ...

Erwin Steinhauer Erwin Steinhauer (born 19 September 1951 in Vienna) is an austrians, Austrian actor. Selected filmography * ''Der Sonne entgegen'' (1985, TV series) * ''Sarajevo (2014 film), Sarajevo'' (2014, TV film) References External links

* * ...

Oskar Potiorek Oskar Potiorek (20 November 1853 – 17 December 1933) was an officer of the Austro-Hungarian Army, who served as Governor of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1911 to 1914. He was a passenger in the car carrying Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria ...

Heino Ferch Heino Ferch (born 18 August 1963) is a German film, theatre and television actor. His notable film roles include Albert Speer in ''Downfall (2004 film), Downfall'' (2004) and Harry Melchior in The Tunnel (2001 film), ''The Tunnel'' (2001). Biogr ...

as Dr. Herbert Sattler *

Melika Foroutan Melika Foroutan (born 1976) is a German-Iranian actress. Biography Melika Foroutan, born 1976 in Tehran, initially studied Philosophy, English and History in Cologne from 1995 to 1998. She then enrolled in the acting class at the University o ...

as Marija Jeftanovic *

Edin Hasanovic Edin is a predominantly Bosnian masculine given name of Arabic origin. Notable persons with that name include: Persons with the given name * Edin Ademović (born 1987), Bosnian footballer * Edin Cornelius Alfsen (1896–1966), Norwegian mission ...

Danilo Ilić Danilo Ilić (Serbian Cyrillic: Данило Илић; 27 July 1890 – 3 February 1915) was a Bosnian Serb who was among the chief organisers of the Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Biography Born in what is modern-day Bosnia and He ...

Simon Hatzl Simon Hatzl is an Austrian TV, fim and stage actor. Life Born in Eibiswald, he studied at the Max-Reinhardt-Seminar in Vienna and graduated in 1998. He has appeared as part of the Vienna's Theater der Jugend (Youth Theatre) as well as in ''Kom ...

as Polizeichef Strametz * Martin Leutgeb as Polizist Schimpf *

Juraj Kukura Juraj Kukura (born 15 March 1947, in Prešov) is a Slovak actor. Kukura studied acting at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava (VŠMU). Since 1985, when he emigrated to West Germany, his films were banned in the Czechoslovak Socialist ...

as Stojan Jeftanovic * Karin Lischka as Frau Ofner * Juergen Maurer as Justizchef Fiedler * Michael Menzel as Sekretär Körner *

Friedrich von Thun Friedrich Ernst Peter Paul Maria Graf von Thun und Hohenstein (born 30 June 1942) is an Austrian actor. He appeared in more than a hundred films since 1958. His son Max von Thun Maximilian Romedio Johann-Ernst Graf von Thun und Hohenstein (born ...

as Sektionsrat Wiesner * Dominik Warta as Peter Dörre

Production

The film is a German-Austrian cooperation between German television channel

ZDF ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...

and Austrian channel

ORF ORF or Orf may refer to: * Norfolk International Airport, IATA airport code ORF * Observer Research Foundation, an Indian research institute * One Race Films, a film production company founded by Vin Diesel * Open reading frame, a portion of the ...

. 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: * Baden-Baden TV Film Festival 2014 ** 3Sat Zuschauerpreis: Andreas Prochaska * German Television Academy Award 2014 ** Best Leading Actor: Florian Teichmeister ** Best Script: Martin Ambrosch ** Best Casting: Nicole Schmied * Jupiter Award 2015 ** Best German TV Actor: Heino Ferch

Reviews

" 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 The Hollywood Reporter called it a "handsome-looking and well-acted feature"

References

External links

* * {{cite web, title=Weltgeschichte als Kaiserschmarrn, publisher=spiegel.de, url=http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/tv/das-attentat-sarajevo-1914-zdf-film-ueber-anschlag-auf-franz-ferdinand-a-966106.html, accessdate=2017-01-21, language=German 2014 films 2014 television films 2010s biographical films 2010s historical films 2010s German films 2010s German-language films Films about the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria Austrian World War I films German World War I films Films set in Sarajevo Films set in Vienna German television films Films about assassinations German biographical films Austrian television films German-language television shows Austrian biographical films German historical films Austrian historical films Cultural depictions of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria Cultural depictions of Gavrilo Princip ZDF original programming