By: Nevena Šarenac
At the official ceremony in the National Theatre tonight, the awarding of the official prize ‘Hearts of Sarajevo’ in several categories officially lowered the curtain at this year’s 19th Sarajevo Film Festival.
During the nine days of the most significant regional festival, more than 200 films from 59 countries were shown, and the competition program was divided into three categories-nine feature films, 29 documentaries and ten short films.
With more than 100.000 visitors, the glamour on the red carpet and entertainment events throughout the capital city of B&H, and with the presence of many tourists, the finish of the festival attracted a lot of attention.
In the competition program, the ‘Heart of Sarajevo’ for the best film was awarded to the Georgian film ‘In Bloom’ by director Nana Ekvtimishvili and Simon Groß.
The winner of the symbol of the Sarajevo Film Festival is leaving Sarajevo with a cash prize of 16.000 Euros.
The directors of this achievement said that they are very proud of this award, especially since this is the first Georgian film in the competition program in the Sarajevo Film Festival.
The best actresses had the main roles in the winning movie ‘In Bloom’ Lika Babuani and Mariam Bokeria.
The best actor of the Sarajevo Film Festival was Bogdan Diklić for the role in the B&H-Croatian co-production ‘Defense and Protection’ by director Boba Jeličić.
‘’This is an award that has such a beautiful name. It is neither gold, nor silver, but simply the heart of the city. This is why this award is so dear to me’’, said Bogdan Diklić as he was awarded the ‘Heart of Sarajevo’.
The President of the Competition Program of the feature film that included nine films that were in competition for the ‘Heart of Sarajevo’, Danis Tanović thanked the entire team of the Festival for all their work and effort.
‘’Thank you that you have been working for 19 years on this impossible mission. Thank you for bringing all these people to the city and thank you for the nine best days in the year’’, said Tanović.
The Director of the Sarajevo Film Festival Mirsad Purivatra said that this year’s festival has achieved all their plans and objections, and the organizers should be satisfied.
He presented the honorary ‘Heart of Sarajevo’ to the Executive Director of Euroimages Robert Olla for his contribution to the film industry.
‘’Thank you everyone. This is a big responsibility and I am very emotional. This award comes at a special moment because I am in the middle of my career and this is very encouraging. In addition, my heart is currently broken and now I have a completely new one’’, said Olla.
The ‘Heart of Sarajevo’ for the best documentary film went to ‘Sickfuckpeople’ by Juri Rechinsky. The documentary is about a group of homeless youth who managed to overcome their addictions.
Special recognition for the short film program was awarded to ‘Honor’ and ‘Rabbitlan’.
The ‘Heart of Sarajevo’ for best short film went to the Romanian movie ‘Shadow Clouds’ by Radu Jude.
The award for best documentary film that deals with human rights, valued at 3.000 Euros, went to Arsen Oremović for the film ‘Married to the Swiss Franc’, and the reason given by the jury was that it seeks transparency of government.
The special jury award for documentary program, which is supported by Al Jazeera Balkans, went to the Greek film ‘Cleaners’.
The quality of the festival was at its highest level, and thus the organizers were proud to say that the number of visitors to the Sarajevo Film Festival increased by 11 percent in comparison to last year.
