By: Nevena Šarenac
The Office of the Council of Europe, the five-year partner of the Sarajevo Film Festival (SFF), will be the main sponsor of the Heart of Sarajevo award for the best film of the festival.
At today’s press conference in Sarajevo, Head of the Council of Europe Office in B&H Mary Ann Hennessey said that this partnership involves not only financial support to an outstanding European cultural event, but also highlights in what ways the Council of Europe sees B&H as an important key in European history and in the present.
“The building of a European cult identity is one of the main goals of the Council of Europe, which is one of the reasons why the Council of Europe honors the SFF’’, said Hennessey.
Referring to other events that the Council of Europe B&H will organize as part of the SFF, Hennessey said that the events would underscore the basic theme of the Council of Europe, and that is the “2013-European Year-Year of Citizens” and the “Youth in Democracy” with a focus on the movement “Without Hate Speech” and the youth campaign for human rights on the Internet.
“A short presentation of our movement against hate speech will be shown before every film in the Open Air Cinema. Information leaflets will be available at the main office of the SFF. There will be an important debate that will be organized on 21 August called “Youth as key actors in democracy”. This debate will highlight the role of young people in public life in B&H and other members of the Council of Europe’’, said Hennessey.
She added that an exhibition for children will be organized called “Democracy and Human Rights Begins With Us”.
“Democracy is key for mutual understanding and respect. Education plays a key role for promoting the fundamental values of the Council of Europe, and that is democracy and human rights. Education is increasingly being seen as a defense against rising violence, racism, extremism, xenophobia, discrimination and lack of tolerance’’, concluded Hennessey.
The Director of the Sarajevo Film Festival Mirsad Purivatra stressed the importance of continued support of the Council of Europe to the Festival, which confirms the fact that SFF is doing a good job, not only for B&H and for the entire region.
“We are making a festival that is creating a new generation of young people that thinks in a different way, and that is to look beyond the borders of their cities and countries. Film is a media that, maybe together with literature, offers opportunities to travel the world, to get to know different people, and to accept diversity. Thus, the role of the Council of Europe fully fits in with what we have been doing for 18 years, and that is to promote some new values’’, said Purivatra.
B&H Representative at Eurimages (European Fund for Support of Coproduction) Jovan Marjanović recalled that this organization supported three films in the competition program of the 19th SFF and that is the B&F Film by Faruk Lončarević ‘Sa Mamom’, the Romanian Film ‘Vuk’ and the Georgian film ‘U procvatu’. They supported more than 10 movies in other programs of the festival, among which is the winner of the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival “Blue is the Warmest Color” and many others.
“In addition to movies that are part of the program of the festival, what Eurimages also supports in the festival is the trend of coproduction, which is now the leading method of financing films in Southeast Europe. What is particularly pleasing is the fact that, with the support of Eurimages, the digitalization of movies in B&H has progressed, and one of the results is the digitalization of the cinema in Meeting Point, to the delight of all citizens of B&H’’, said Marjanović.
This year’s Sarajevo Film Festival will open tomorrow, on 16 August, with the movie by Danis Tanović called “Episode in the Life of An Iron Picker”, and it will last until 24 August.
