Ryan Sidhoo, the documentary filmmaker behind The Track, looks at Sarajevo, a city in Bonsia and Herzegovina containing multitudes. Within Sarajevo there’s beauty, history, slums, trauma, and a man who holds up hope for a future generation of athletes. That man is Semad Osmanovic, leaving his office to fix a luge track, a hazard now. He coaches three junior athletes – Hamza Pleho, Mirza Nikolajev, and Zlatan Jakić, that future generation scarred by past wars. The former Yugoslavian War still affects the present generation, these Gen-Z athletes, who have their own, more recent anxieties.

The documentary begins in 2018, and these athletes and their coach are planning for the 2022 Winter Olympics taking place in Beijing. A lot of things are in their way, especially funding, as Osmanovic tells the camera some much necessary context. The Track, through interviews, reveal that he gets less funding because of the nationalistic government in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This lack of funding impedes Osmanovic and the team, making even the most persevering people give up their dreams. Another hindrance is Semanovic’s health, unable to go with Nikolajev, the last luger standing, competing during the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

The Track showcases simple, straightforward filmmaking with cinematography that captures Bosnia’s raw beauty. Capturing four years of these subjects’ lives, time passes but not in a dread inducing way – it feels more bittersweet. Its cornerstone are the interviews, capturing young athletes wise beyond their years, more mature than I would be.  The interviews also capture Semanovic, almost breaking down for loving a country whose government doesn’t reciprocate. Despite that, Semanovic and the athletes keep on keeping on, showing these subjects’ paths as they diverge and grow.

A luger on a gray concrete track. Courtesy of Hot Docs.