Train of Freedom

A railway through post-war Kosovo.

• DirectorKarina Palmer
• CinematographyRegjep Ahmetaj
• ProducerPetrit Pula
• Runtime50 minutes

Filmed aboard the Freedom of Movement Train in 2008, it follows Albanian, Serbian, Roma and Ashkali passengers and workers sharing one of the few public spaces connecting communities divided by war.

At its center are Hasan, the railway’s senior Albanian conductor, and Milos, its youngest Serbian conductor, working side by side as a new nation rebuilds.

Kosovo’s rail system, established in 1874, once connected routes stretching from Greece toward Central Europe. During the Balkan conflict, the railway also became part of a darker history of displacement and forced exile.

Operating under the name Freedom of Movement, the railway offered low-cost transportation and one of the few public spaces where people from communities divided by war could share a common journey.