They arrived 10 days after the war ended, heading to Pristina, where they met groups of passionate young journalists and activists and decided to center the documentary there.

[5] The final documentary centers on seven youth: journalists Nebi Qena and Garentina Kraja; soloist from the Jericho group, Petrit Çarkaxhiu; director, Kaltrina Krasniqi; Ylber Bajraktari, Driton Bekqeli and Linda Gusia; as well as publisher of the newspaper Koha Ditore, Veton Surroi.

[9] The film follows the group of activists for three years after the war, watching them make change and become leaders of the new state as they recover from trauma and despair.

[10] A Normal LIfe was selected to show at 2003 documentary festivals like Tribeca, Woodstock, Montreal, and Copenhagen, and was also shown by the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs.

Vasarhelyi worked on the film for five years, moving to Africa for its production, and stated that this period was personally fulfilling but very tough on her relationships: at one point during shooting, she had to miss her grandmother's funeral.

In 2015, Brandon Wilson from IndieWire wrote that Vasarhelyi's "familiarity with the country pays dividends and elevates the piece from being just another tale of civic dysfunction on the African continent.

Variety magazine said: "Jimmy Chin and E. Chai Vasarhelyi's Sundance audience award winner is one of the best sports documentaries of its type in recent years.

"[17] Vasarhelyi and Chin discuss filming the climb in their New York Times opinion piece, saying, "Throughout history, documentarians have had to struggle with the blurred lines of their responsibility to their subjects.