By: Medina Malagić
The first press conference for the 19th annual Sarajevo Film Festival took place today at Kino Meeting Point in Sarajevo. The initial lineup of films scheduled to be screened at the festival were announced, and the General Manager at L’Oreal Consumer Division Laurent Sorieul expressed his enthusiasm that the L’Oreal brand will once again be the official make-up sponsor for the Sarajevo Film Festival.
“L’Oreal Paris Brand is in its second year as the official makeup sponsor of the Sarajevo Film Festival. BiH is of huge importance for L’Oreal. We decided to be a part of this big event for this country and for the region”, said Sorieul.
Sorieul emphasized that L’Oreal is eager to bring their glamour, sparkle and expertise in beauty to Sarajevo in order to establish a special connection with the audience. “I can proudly say that last year our makeup team did a fine job, created more than 400 makeup looks for more than 120 personalities, TV presenters, and actresses from all over the world during the nine days of the festival”, said Sorieul.
The philosophy of L’Oreal brand makeup is the defense of all types of beauty. It is the realization that all of us grow old with grace and self-assurance. Everyone has the right to beauty, and L’Oreal is there to give men and women the chance to improve their well-being and self-esteem, described Sorieul.
Following the presentation of L’Oreal by Sorieul, Mirsad Purivatra went on to say that the selection of movies for the festival is still in talks, where the best films throughout the world will be chosen. He highlighted that most attention is being devoted to the Hey! Open Air program and Summer Kino, which is always difficult to coordinate due to the challenge of accommodating to a wide range of interests for the nearly 3,000 people who visit every night. The selection of films this year will include regional films, films from Europe and the rest of the world, especially the USA.
Purivatra announced the first titles of this year’s program with their accompanying official trailers. The opening of the Sarajevo Film Festival will start with ‘An Episode in the Life Of an Iron Picker” by BiH Director Danis Tanović, which won 2 silver medals at the Berlinale Festival.
Blancanievers is a black and white film directed by Pablo Berger. Prince Avalanche is a US production by Director David Gordon Green featuring actors Paul Rudd and Emile Hirsch, and the fourth film that was announced is Krugovi, directed by Srđan Golubović. Krugovi speaks about the consequences of the war in BiH and is based on the real-life event of the sacrifice of a young man from Trebinje named Srđan Aleksić, who saved his neigbhor during the conflict in BiH.
According to Purivatra, the guests at this year’s Sarajevo Film Festival include all four directors of these four films, as well as Emile Hirsch, producer of Prince Avalanche Lisa Muskat, several actors in Krugovi and ‘An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker’, as well as Rade Aleksić, the father of Srđan Aleksić who will arrive to Sarajevo from Trebinje.
This year’s Sarajevo Film Festival will take place from 16-24 August.
