The Jury of the Competition Programme – Feature Film at the 30th Sarajevo Film Festival will consist of director and screenwriter Paul Schrader (president), actor Sebastian Cavazza, director, writer and editor Una Gunjak, director and writer Juho Kuosmanen, and actress and producer Noomi Rapace.
Schrader joins a rich constellation of film auteurs who have previously presided over the Sarajevo Film Festival Jury in past editions: Mike Leigh (2004), Miki Manojlović (2005), Jasmila Žbanić (2006), Jeremy Irons (2007), Nuri Bilge Ceylan (2008), Mirjana Karanović (2009), Cristi Puiu (2010), Ari Folman (2011), Kornél Mundruczó (2012), Danis Tanović (2013), Béla Tarr (2014), Călin Peter Netzer (2015), Elia Suleiman (2016), Michel Franco (2017), Asghar Farhadi (2018), Ruben Östlund (2019), Michel Hazanavicius (2020), Jasna Đuričić (2021), Sebastian Meise (2022), Mia Wasikowska (2023).
The Jury will have the honour of awarding the Heart of Sarajevo Awards in the Competition Programme – Feature Film. The winners will be announced on Friday, August 23 at the Awards Ceremony.
President of Jury
Paul Schrader
Director and writer, USA
Paul Joseph Schrader was born and raised in a strict Dutch Calvinist household and he didn’t watch his first film until he was seventeen years old. He began his career as a film critic, before pursuing further studies at Columbia University, Calvin College and UCLA Film School.
Schrader first made his mark as a screenwriter with the iconic film Taxi Driver (1976), directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro. The screenplay, a dark exploration of urban alienation and moral decay, remains one of the most celebrated in cinematic history. This collaboration with Scorsese continued with other notable films, including Raging Bull (1980) and The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), cementing his reputation as a master storyteller.
His directorial debut, Blue Collar (1978), showcased his ability to elicit powerful performances and his keen eye for social commentary. He went on to direct critically acclaimed films such as American Gigolo (1980), Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985), and Affliction (1997).
In 2017 he wrote and directed First Reformed (2017), a film that was lauded for its profound existential themes and received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay.
Recent projects include The Card Counter (2021), Master Gardener (2022) and Oh Canada (2024), underscoring his enduring influence and creativity in contemporary filmmaking.
Sebastian Cavazza
Actor, Slovenia
Sebastian Cavazza studied acting at the Academy for Theatre, Radio, Film, and Television (AGRFT) at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. He graduated in 1999 and immediately pursued postgraduate studies in film directing.
Throughout his career, Cavazza has delivered more than eighty performances on stage and taken on over eighty roles in front of the camera, including notable films such as Men Don’t Cry (2017), A.I. Rising (2018), and the series Besa (2018). His outstanding work has earned him numerous nominations and awards. Impressively, he has acted in more than fifteen foreign languages and has never been dubbed.
In 2020, Cavazza was invited to lecture on acting for the camera at AGRFT, where he has been generously sharing his knowledge and experiences with students.
Una Gunjak
Director, writer and editor, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Sarajevo born, Paris based writer, director and editor, Una Gunjak studied in Italy and then in the UK, at the NFTS, where she graduated from the Editing department. In 2014 she won the Heart of Sarajevo Award at the Sarajevo Film Festival for short film The Chicken, that had a premiere at the Cannes’ Critics’ Week, and went on to win European Film Award for Best Short Film.
Excursion, Una’s first feature premiered at Locarno Film Festival 2023, taking home the Special Mention Award. It went on to screen at more than 50 festivals so far, winning along awards for Best Script at FAF Belgrade and Best Actress at Marrakech Film Festival. Excursion has secured theatrical release in 20 countries across Europe.
Gunjak is an editing consultant for the First Cut Lab and the Dok Incubator.
Juho Kuosmanen
Director and writer, Finland
Juho Kuosmanen is a Finnish film, theatre and opera director and writer, whose short films have been screened at many festivals including Cannes, Locarno and Oberhausen.
His debut feature film The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki premiered at Cannes Film Festival in 2016, where it won the top prize in the Un Certain Regard selection.
His second feature film Compartment No. 6 (2021) also premiered at Cannes in the main competition program, where it won the Grand Prix, an award it shared with Asghar Farhadi’s film A Hero.
Kuosmanen has also done a trilogy of short silent films Scrap-Mattila and the Beautiful Woman (2012), Moonshiners (2017) and A Planet Far Away (2023). Recently he directed three episodes of the TV series Alice & Jack starring Andrea Riseborough and Domhnall Gleeson.
Kuosmanen is the co-founder and artistic director of the Kokkolan Kinojuhlat Film Festival.
Noomi Rapace
Actress and producer, Sweden
Noomi Rapace captured the attention of the international entertainment community in 2009 with her commanding, unnerving, and critically acclaimed portrayal of Lisbeth Salander in the film adaptations of Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest. She won the Best Actress Guldbagge Award (Sweden) and the Best Actress International Jupiter Award (Germany) for her breakthrough performance in the first instalment of the Millennium Trilogy, as well as being nominated for a British Academy Film Award for Lead Actress and a Best Actress European Film Award for her role.
Following her success, Rapace transitioned to becoming one of the most sought-after actresses. She balanced high-profile Hollywood roles in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011), and Child 44 (2015) with edgy international productions like Lamb (2021) and You Won’t Be Alone (2022). She also gained critical acclaim for her roles in TV shows such as Jack Ryan (2019), Django (2023), and this year’s Constellation.
In addition to her powerful presence on screen, she is a gifted creative and multihyphenate. As a producer with a discerning eye and strong instincts, she excels in translating and realizing storytelling for audiences.
The 30th Sarajevo Film Festival will take place from 16 to 23 August 2024.
