Skopje 1941, the city is occupied by the Germans and their Bulgarian allies. Zoran, a boy of 11, witnesses the horrors of war. Zoran's father is away fighting in the partisan army. Zoran's mother and a German officer develop a special affection for one another.

The occupation and liberation of what is now Macedonia's capital, Skopje, during World War II is told by actors turned directors Rade Serbedzija and his son Danilo through the eyes of eight-year-old Zoran (David Todosovski). The Red Army's liberation from German and Bulgarian occupation of what was then a provincial Yugoslav city is the story of the cruelty of war, poverty, and suffering in which young Zoran witnesses his Jewish friend Renata Rossman and her family being taken away to a concentration camp but also knows his Uncle Gjorgija (Rade Serbedzija) is a partisan battling the Germans.—Mike Spaskovski