The film “Winds, Talk to Me” by Stefan Đorđević won the ‘Heart of Sarajevo’ award for best feature film at the 31st Sarajevo Film Festival (SFF).
On the closing night of the largest film festival in the region, the ‘Heart of Sarajevo’ awards were presented at the National Theatre to the best directors, actors and actresses, and teams of feature-length feature, documentary, student and short films.
The films “Otter” by Srđan Vuletić, “Yugo Florida” by Vladimir Tagić, “Stars of Minor Importance” by Renát Olasz, “White Snail” by Elsa Kremser and Levin Peter, “God Will Not Help” by Hana Jušić, “DJ Ahmet” by Georgi M. Unkovski, “Fantasy” by Kukla and “Sorella di Clasura” by Ivana Mladenović were also in the category for the prestigious award.
The jury members who chose the best film were: Sergei Loznitsa, Dragan Mićanović, Emanuel Parvu, Ena Sendijarević and Tricia Tuttle.
The ‘Heart of Sarajevo’ award for best director went to Ivana Mladenović, best actor was Andrija Kuzmanović, and best actress were Sarah Al Saleh, Aline Juhart, Mina Milovanović and Mia Skrbinac from the film “Fantasy”.
‘Heart of Sarajevo’ for documentary film went to Ivet Loker for “Our Time Will Come”, and in this category a special award went to Kristina Nikolova for the film “In Hell With Ivo”, while the award for best short documentary went to Mariam Bakacho Khatchvani for “The Men’s Land”.
Natalia Mirzoyan was awarded for the best short film for “Winter in March”.
The special award for promoting gender equality went to the film “God Will Not Help” by Hana Jušić, while the special award for Youth Perspectives went to the film “DJ Ahmet” by Georgi M. Unkovski.
“Heart of Sarajevo” for best student film went to Adem Tutić for the film “Tarik”.
The festival opened on August 15 with the world premiere of the Bosnian film “Paviljon” directed by Dino Mustafić, and over the course of eight days it brought a rich program with hundreds of screenings, guest appearances by international stars and the promotion of new film talents.
This year, Sarajevo screened a total of 227 films and series from 65 countries, divided into 22 program selections. The focus was on four competitive programs: feature films, documentaries, short films and student films, in which a total of 50 films competed for the Heart of Sarajevo award.
In the feature film category, there were nine works in competition, three of which had world premieres and six regional premieres.
The documentary program included 20 films – 12 feature films and eight shorts – with a total of four world, four international, ten regional and two Bosnian premieres. The short film program included ten titles from different countries in the region and Europe, while the student film program had 11 works, including five world, one international and five regional premieres.
Through accompanying programs, Sarajevo hosted numerous international and regional authors, including directors and producers whose works marked the past year. The audience had the opportunity to watch retrospectives, special screenings and Masterclasses.
In addition to the competition section, special attention was drawn to the awards presented to the great names of world cinema. Paolo Sorrentino, one of the most important European auteurs, was the central figure of this year’s Tribute To program, with a retrospective of his films and the presentation of an honorary award.
Actors Stellan Skarsgård, Ray Winstone and Willem Dafoe were awarded the prestigious Honorary Heart of Sarajevo award, which is awarded for an exceptional contribution to the art of cinema. Their presence in Sarajevo attracted great attention from the audience and the media, and numerous film workers and young authors took the opportunity to talk to them about their professional experiences.
The work of the competition programs was supervised by international juries composed of prominent filmmakers. The main jury for the feature film was headed by the distinguished Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa, while the documentary, short and student films were judged by directors, producers and film critics from Europe and the world.
The Sarajevo Film Festival, founded in 1995 during the siege of Sarajevo, still carries a strong symbolism of cultural resistance, but also its role as a bridge between East and West, and a space for the affirmation of regional talents. Over the course of three decades, it has grown into the most important platform for films from Southeast Europe and an indispensable point on the international festival map.
