The audience of the 30th Sarajevo Film Festival will enjoy solar-powered screenings of films at the festival’s largest open air cinema.
The solar panels, financed by the European Union, were put into service a day before the special pre-festival screening and two days before the opening of the 30th Sarajevo Film Festival, by the Sarajevo Film Festival Director, Jovan Marjanović, and Ambassador Johann Sattler, the Head of the EU Delegation and the EU Special Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“Sarajevo Film Festival is a leader in many aspects and I am happy that it leads in Sarajevo’s transition towards a more sustainable future. Sarajevo is one of the cities selected for the EU Mission “100 Zero Net Emissions Cities”, which aims to open the way to climate-neutral cities. It is inspiring that the most important film festival in the region plays a key role in Sarajevo’s green transition. Sixty solar panels, provided to the SFF with EU support, will cut the electricity costs of the Festival’s open air summer cinema by up to 50% and prevent around 55 tons of harmful greenhouse gas emissions per year. Solar panels are currently the most cost-effective and cleanest form of electricity on the market and are key to our security in the future,” said Ambassador Sattler.
The EU Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Sarajevo Film Festival work together to reduce air pollution in Sarajevo, particularly in light of the EU’s Net Zero mission for the functional urban area of Sarajevo.
“Sarajevo Film Festival is already implementing a lot of activities to reduce its carbon footprint. The solar summer cinema is one of the ways to reduce emissions during the Festival and to show that, by introducing new positive changes, large cultural events such as the Sarajevo Film Festival can be organized in a more environmentally sustainable way. We are pleased that for the first time our largest summer cinema will use solar energy and that with the EU support we are moving towards the long-term goal of becoming a zero pollution Festival”, said Director Marjanović.
Solar energy is a vital part of the EU’s strategy to combat climate change and improve air quality. As part of the EU4ALL Project, the EU Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina financed the purchase of 60 solar panels for the Sarajevo Film Festival worth 150,000 KM. The project of procuring and installing solar panels was implemented by the Center for Civil Society Promotion and Help Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe BiH, EU in BiH writes.
