With the aim of objectively informing the public and establishing facts about the events of Tuesday, August 15th, at the industry forum of the 29th Sarajevo Film Festival, we emphasize the following: The disputed film was not screened at the Sarajevo Film Festival.
As part of a business presentation by Telekom Srbija at the festival’s industry forum, among their other new projects, an upcoming film still in post-production – “Heroes of Halyard” – was announced. Basic information about the project was provided, and three excerpts of filmed material were shown to around 70 attendees. The content of the presentation was under the sole responsibility of Telekom Srbija, it was stated by the SFF today.
Up until now, we have communicated with all partners in professional trust regarding the material they would present. The content of this project was never mentioned. It is evident that this supposititious revisionist content has breached that trust.
We accept responsibility for this inappropriate content and understand the negative comments from the public.
It has been decided that, starting from the next Festival, all presentations at the Sarajevo Film Festival, including industry ones, will undergo selection by the Festival’s programmers. This was not the case previously, as similar business entities in this sector were free to present their work. Additionally, within the organization, measures will be taken to prevent similar situations from recurring.
The Sarajevo Film Festival will not allow itself to be used for the promotion of historical revisionism of any kind.
