Total admissions increased by 7.85 percent and total box office increased by 7.07 percent in 2018, according to Sarajevo Film Festival’s Statistics and Analysis Department. Bosnia and Herzegovina also had a record-breaking year regarding the domestic film distribution.
Total admissions increased from 1,082,708 in 2017 to 1,167,786 in 2018. Total box office increased from 2,897,107 EUR / 5,666,249 KM in 2017 to 3,102,097 EUR / 6,067,174 KM in 2018.
Six domestic films, including two long documentaries, were released in cinemas in 2018. Admissions to domestic films increased by 124 percent from 2,410 admissions in 2017 to 5,402 admissions in 2018. As some of the films were distributed through travelling cinemas, including Operation Kino which doesn’t charge for tickets, box office results don’t show an increase as fascinating as the admissions results, but they still reached 46.9 percent rise from 6,708 EUR / 13,121.5 KM in 2017 to 10,411.18 EUR / 20,362.5 KM in 2018.
Scream for Me Sarajevo by Tarik HodžićGood Days Work / Dobar dan za posao, directed by Martin Turk and produced by Obala Art Center, topped the charts with 1,389 admissions and 839 EUR / 1,641 KM gross, but the highest grossing domestic film was the documentary Scream for Me Sarajevo, directed by Tarik Hodžić and produced by Prime Time, with 3,620 EUR / 7,080 KM gross and 1,367 admissions.
With 1,387 admissions, Never Leave Me / Ne ostavljaj me by Aida Begić produced by Film House Sarajevo had the second largest audience and grossed 2,338 EUR / 4,572.5 KM. Other domestic films theatrically released in 2018 are The Frog / Žaba, the debut feature by Elmir Jukić produced by Refresh Production, Nothing but a Wind / Ništa, samo vjetar, a debut feature by Timur Makarević produced by SCCA/pro.ba, and the documentary Tifa directed by Bakir Hadžiomerović and produced by Fist fist.co.ba.
The second record-breaking event of 2018 came with the Serbian film South Wind / Južni vetar by Miloš Avramović, produced by Režim, Eye to Eye, which topped the overall box office with 101,436 admissions and 228,155 EUR / 446,232 KM gross.
In 2017 Bosnia and Herzegovina saw a rise in admissions to domestic films by 46.9 percent and in total admissions by 17.81 percent, Film New Europe reports.
