Čaršija

SYNOPSIS

How are we to distinguish the towns on Balkan peninsula which were under the Habsburg monarchy from the ones which were under the Ottoman emporium? The have čaršija - an old merchant center, a legacy from the times of the Ottomans. Through the times in has been creating and shaping the atmosphere of towns and lifestyles of its inhabitants. Skopje, the capital of Republic of Macedonia, has such čaršija, which managed to preserve itself through many historical changes as well as the last earthquake in 1963. Due to recent political situation and Albanian - Macedonian conflicts, čaršija is nowadays mostly avoided by Macedonians. This short documentary is a portrait of čaršija and craftsmen who have workshops there. At the same time it tries to reveal the reasons why čaršija has been slowly loosing its role and position in the life of Skopje's inhabitants...