A tiny Serbian village explodes with brass cacophony and riotous celebration as more than half a million music fans descend upon Guča, the world’s largest trumpet competition. The film’s characters are all making their trumpet pilgrimages for very different reasons: an unlikely brass band from New York City, Zlatne Uste, voyages to represent the United States only a decade after NATO bombs rocked Belgrade. They will be the first Americans ever to compete at Guča. 25-year-old “master trumpeter” and reigning Guča champion Dejan Petrovic returns to defend his championship title, while world-class Roma Gypsy trumpeter Demiran Ćerimović struggles against deeply ingrained racism for the opportunity to make money for his family. Brasslands offers an intimate and sometimes unsettling portrait of how the hopes and fears of this diverse group of characters collide in their search for common ground and musical ecstasy.
