25
Sarajevo Film Festival
Looking forward to our 25th anniversary edition: exclusive news, talents, projects and achievements
16-23/August /2019
Under the patronage of
UNESCO United Nations Educational, ScientiďŹ c and Cultural Organization
Previous guests of the Sarajevo Film Festival Tribute To programme: 2018 Nuri Bilge Ceylan / 2017 Joshua Oppenheimer, Oliver Stone / 2016 Amat Escalante / 2015 Brillante Mendoza, Atom Egoyan / 2014 Michael Winterbottom / 2013 Cristi Puiu / 2012 Todd Solondz / 2011 Lucrecia Martel / 2010 Bruno Dumont / 2009 Jia Zhang-ke / 2008 Todd Haynes / 2007 Tsai Ming-Liang, Ulrich Seidl / 2006 Abel Ferrara, Béla Tarr / 2005 Alexander Payne / 2004 Dušan Makavejev, Gaspar Noé / 2003 Peter Mullan / 2002 Stephen Frears / 2001 Mike Leigh / 2000 Steve Buscemi
Pawel Pawlikowski
The recipient of the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo Award and the guest of Tribute To programme in 2019 During the 25th anniversary edition, the Sarajevo Film Festival will pay tribute to director Pawel Pawlikowski and honour him for his contribution to film and his lasting friendship with the Festival and Sarajevo. Pawlikowski will be presented with the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo at the opening ceremony of the 25th Sarajevo Film Festival on August 16. The acclaimed director will be honoured with a retrospective of his works - including documentaries he made for the BBC and his most recent feature films such as IDA and COLD WAR - in the Festival’s Tribute to programme. Pawlikowski will be returning to Sarajevo for the third time. In 2010 he presented IDA to the SFF audience and in 2018 COLD WAR opened the 24th edition of the Festival.
to chair 25th Sarajevo Film Festival jury
photo: Christopher Mair
Ruben Östlund
One of modern cinema’s most respected authors, Swedish director and Palme d’Or winner Ruben Östlund will preside over the Competition Programme - Feature Film Jury at the 25th Sarajevo Film Festival. An avid skier, Östlund directed ski films for five years, until his mid 20’s testifying his taste for long sequence shots. He went on to study film at the University of Gothenburg where he developed his knowledge of constructed and well thought out sequence shots which has continued to evolve through all his films. His feature debut THE GUITAR MONGOLOID won the FIPRESCI Award at Moscow in 2005. His second feature, INVOLUNTARY premiered in Cannes Un Certain Regard 2008. Two years later he won the Golden Bear in Berlin for short film INCIDENT BY A BANK. The premiere of his third feature film PLAY (2011) was held in Cannes at the
Director’s Fortnight, where he was awarded the ‘Coup de coeur’ Prize and, among others, won the Nordic Prize, the highest distinction in Scandinavia. His fourth feature film, FORCE MAJEURE, premiered at Un Certain Regard in Cannes, where it was awarded the Jury Prize. The film won 16 Best Foreign film awards. FORCE MAJEURE was also nominated at the Golden Globes and shortlisted for an Oscar®. THE SQUARE is the fourth of Östlund’s films to premiere in Cannes and his first feature to be selected in the Official Selection. It won the Palme d’Or in 2017 and was an Oscar® Nomination for Best Foreign Film in 2018.
Festival News Sarajevo Film Festival becomes Oscar®-qualifying festival The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has awarded the Sarajevo Film Festival the status of the Oscar® Academy Award qualifying film festival in the Short Film category. As of this year, short films that win the Heart of Sarajevo Award and the nomination for the EFA short film award at the Sarajevo Film Festival will be eligible for consideration in the Animated Short Film / Live Action Short Film category of the Academy Awards® without the standard theatrical run, provided that they otherwise comply with the Academy rules. The Sarajevo Film Festival thus joins the family of leading international Oscar®-qualifying film festivals which, among others, includes the Sundance Film Festival, Berlin International Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival, Locarno International Film Festival and the British Academy of Television and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards.
Jubilee edition under the patronage of UNESCO The 25th Sarajevo Film Festival will be held under the patronage of UNESCO. UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) has recognized Sarajevo Film Festival as an event in line with the priorities of the Organization aimed at promoting dialogue and tolerance through the arts. In the letter extended to the Festival board by Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, stated that “the 25th Sarajevo Film Festival and its programmes will contribute to giving access to films to a wide audience and to strengthening peace in Southern Europe’’. “We are pleased to have UNESCO acknowledged Sarajevo Film Festival as a keeper of our cultural heritage and diversity. From the very begginings, art has guarded our spirits, helped us create new values and break down existing social and cultural barriers’’, said Mirsad Purivatra, director of the Sarajevo Film Festival.
25th anniversary: Locally impactful, globally important After over two decades of hard work and overcoming of challenges in a shifting landscape, the Sarajevo Film Festival has an enormous impact on culture, economy and tourism of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the wider region. Over the years, the Festival has generated $30,8m in income for the local economy and created 1,385 new jobs. In 2017, the total economic output from the Festival activities amounted to $6,1m and 99 full time jobs. For each Bosnian Marka (BAM) of public money put into the Festival, BAM 2.11 ($1,3) of total taxation was generated. As of 2018, the Festival is a signatory of the 5050x2020 Charter thus contributing to the establishment of gender parity and inclusion in the film industry. In many ways, the Festival is seen as the spiritual successor to the landmark 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics. The above data has been drawn from an independent study on economic, cultural and social impact of the Sarajevo Film Festival, conducted by Olsberg SPI. With the approach of its 25th anniversary, the Festival continues to make leaps and grow, including by adding two new venues for its 2019 edition. The two new locations, including an open air cinema, will be located in East Sarajevo. For its 25th anniversary, the Festival will present a new design of its landmark Red Carpet which will be created with the support of the City of Sarajevo and City Mayor Abdulah Skaka. We look forward to another impactful edition!
Oscar-Winning Production Designer Eugenio Caballero to open Talents Sarajevo Eugenio Caballero, the Academy Award winning production designer of Guillermo de Toro’s PAN’S LABYRINTH and ROMA by Alfonso Cuarón, will be opening this year’s Talents Sarajevo at the 25th Sarajevo Film Festival. His work on the film PAN’S LABYRINTH also earned him an Ariel Award, an Art Directors’ Guild Award (the most prestigious award in his field), a Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award, the Gold Derby Award, the Online Film Critics Association and Goya, Satellite, Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award and BAFTA Award nominations. Caballero’s credits include nearly 30 films, 20 of them as a designer. He has worked with directors Jim Jarmusch (THE LIMT OF CONTROL), Baz Lurthman (ROMEO AND JULIET), Alfonso Cuaron (ROMA), Sebastian Cordero (CRONICAS, RABIA AND EUROPA REPORT), Floria Sigismondi (THE RUNAWAYS), Claudia Llosa (ALOFT), Fernando Eimbcke (CLUB SANDWICH) Carlos Cuaron (RUDO Y CURSI), Russel Mulcahy (RESIDENT EVIL EXTINCTION), among others.
The film A MONSTER CALLS, directed by J.A. Bayona, brings him a Goya on his third nomination to this award. He received the Gaudi Award, the Fenix Award and the Platino Award for the same film. In 2017-2018 he designed the film ROMA working alongside with the director Alfonso Cuarón. For this work he has earned multiple international awards and nominations, including the Critics Choice Awards, the Art Directors’ Guild, the BAFTAs and the Academy Award. He has been nominated for the Ariel award seven times (Mexico’s main film award), from which he has won two. He has served as a Jury member on numerous international festivals and he is a member of the AMPAS (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences), the Mexican and Spanish film academies.
Berlinale Winner Nadav Lapid to come to Sarajevo Nadav Lapid, winner of the Berlinale International Film Festival, will be attending the Sarajevo Film Festival as a member of the Student Film Jury. The Festival will be screening his film SYNONYMES, which won the Golden Bear for Best Film at this year’s Berlinale - the first-ever Israeli film to take this award. A retrospective of his short films will be presented at a special screening within the Student Film Programme as part of a 30th anniversary of the Jerusalem Sam Spiegel Film School. He will also give a lecture for aspiring film professionals at this year’s edition of Talents Sarajevo. Lapid studied philosophy at Tel Aviv University. He moved to Paris before returning to Israel to take a degree at the Sam Spiegel Film & Television School in Jerusalem. His debut feature
Casting directors to gather at the Sarajevo Film Festival A new and exciting partnership with the International Casting Directors Network (ICDN) will see an influx of casting directors and acting
film POLICEMAN won the Special Jury Prize at Locarno in 2011 while THE KINDERGARTEN TEACHER featured in the 2014 Semaine de la Critique at Cannes. He is a recipient of the French Order Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres.
talent to the upcoming Sarajevo Film Festival. In 2019 the ICDN will run a workshop for European casting directors and host a series of masterclasses for actors and filmmakers attending Sarajevo Film Festival. Together, we will put an international spotlight on the regional acting talent!
Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese, New York, 2002
Sarajevo Film Festival presents
BRIGITTE LACOMBE Exhibition August 17 - September 7, 2019 The National Gallery of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Festival News
Sarajevo City of Film for Global Screen to greenlight production of a new feature by Pjer Žalica
We celebrate together: 25th anniversary of SÁTÁNTANGÓ at the 25th Sarajevo Film Festival 25 years after its original release, SÁTÁNTANGÓ, hungarian director’s Béla Tarr masterpiece, has received 4K digital restoration which will be shown at the 25th Sarajevo Film Festival. Adapted in 1994 from the first novel by the Man Booker Prize-winner László Krasznahorkai, Tarr’s 450-minute-long movie quickly became a rarely seen yet legendary work of art. Restoring it, is undoubtedly a heroic adventure: the original
film negative is more than 12 kilometres long and weighs approximately 104 kilograms. The 7,5 hour long work was restored in cooperation with the Hungarian Filmlab and Arbelos Films (US) under the guidance of Béla Tarr himself. The film will be shown at a special screening, presented by Tarr - one of the most influential film authors of today and a Honorary Heart of Sarajevo recipient.
SEE Factory 2019 films premiere in La Quinzaine Five short films shot in Sarajevo and made by ten emerging directors from Bosnia & Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia – coupled with directors from Greece, Romania, Israel and Brazil, will open the 2019 Directors’ Fortnight (Quinzaine des réalisateurs) at Cannes. The project paired five filmmakers from the SEE region with five international directors: Urška Djukić (Slovenia) & Gabriel Tzafka (Greece/ Denmark), film: THE RIGHT ONE; Eleonora Veninova (North Macedonia) & Yona Rozenkier (Israel / Switzerland): THE SIGN; Maša Šarović (Serbia) & Sharon Engelhart (Israel): IN YOUR HANDS; Neven Samardžić (Bosnia-Herzegovina) & Carolina Markowitz (Brasil): SPIT; Dušan Kasalica (Montenegro) & Teodora Ana Mihai (Romania / Belgium): THE PACKAGE. The Southeast Europe Factory, the latest edition of La Factory project by DW and Directors’ Fortnight, joined forces with the Sarajevo Film Festival (Obala Art Centar), to produce these five films. This Factory is supported by Film Centre of Montenegro, Film Center Serbia, Ministry of Culture and Sport of the Sarajevo Canton, North Macedonian Film Agency and Slovenian Film Centre, in association with Atlantic Grupa, Academy of Performing Art, Sarajevo and SCCA/pro.ba on South Eastern Europe side and Cineli Digital on the French side. “The SEE FACTORY is perhaps the one that better embodies the spirit blowing, for 6 years now, on this singular process (coupling 2 directors who don’t know each other), the intention to highlight young talents by accompanying and supporting them. But also to prove, once again, that cinema brings people together, beyond languages, beyond frontiers, and builds a much more constructive and creative dialogue than
any pseudo-political mechanism. For the first time, not one but five countries are producing this Factory together, five driving forces working together to combine their talents: Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Slovenia and Bosnia & Herzegovina. When we think that, not so long ago, most of these countries were at war, we can only rejoice about what can be achieved through cinema. They invited directors from Israel, Greece, Brazil, Romania and Switzerland to gather in the very emblematic and symbolic city of Sarajevo. The 10 filmmakers offer us the result of their exchanges with 5 short films, whilst waiting to discover their individual long feature films in a few years-time, as did those who participated in the Factory before them.” Christophe Leparc, Managing director, Director’s Fortnight ‘’Connecting Sarajevo City of Film and the Factory made sense for us from the first Factory programme we’ve seen. Sarajevo Film Festivals’ goal was always to nurture filmmaking talent in Southeast Europe and provide opportunities for presenting it internationally. Now that we have done it together with the Factory programme we have witnessed the synergies it created and it’s obvious to us that this is just the beginning and that we will see much more from these filmmakers in the future. We are forever grateful to Film Center Serbia, Film Centre of Montenegro, Ministry of Culture and Sport, Canton Sarajevo, North Macedonian Film Agency and Slovenian Film Centre who recognized this opportunity and helped us support the brightest talents from their countries.’’ Mirsad Purivatra, Izeta Građević, Jovan Marjanović, Executive Producers, Sarajevo Film Festival / Obala Art Centar
Following last year’s successful run on the international festival circuit of Martin Turk’s GOOD DAYS WORK, Sarajevo Film Festival and Turkish National Radio Television (TRT) have partnered again to produce two more micro-budget features in the framework of the Sarajevo City of Film for Global Screen (SCF GS) project. This time, the project will focus on directors from the South East European region who previously presented their films and won awards at the Sarajevo Film Festival and who now have great ideas for films that can be filmed in Sarajevo this year. One of the films is set to be directed by Bosnian director Pjer Žalica. His feature film FOCUS GRANDMA is a deathly serious comedy that tells the story of a family coming apart, and through that touches on the universal themes of a family and relationships – as well as a country falling apart. Another title to be green lit will be unveiled during the 25th SFF.Between 2019 and 2020 period, this financing scheme will provide each of the two films with EUR 200,000 in cash, as well as up to EUR 50,000-worth of in-kind services for each project.
CineLink reveals first projects selected for Co-Production Market, CineLink Drama and Docu Rough Cut Boutique Eight feature film projects in early development, five drama series projects and five documentary projects in post-production have been announced as part of this year’s CineLink line-up. The projects will be presented at CineLink Industry Days from August 19th till the 22nd.
CineLink Co-Production Market Selection: THE ANATOLIAN PANTHER / Director: Orçun Köksa / TEFERRUAT FILM (Turkey) THE GREAT ADVENTURE / Director: Cecilia Șefănescu / Libra Film Productions (Romania) LIKE A LIMBLESS TREE / Director: Tunç Davut /Tekhne Films (Turkey) PULA / Director: Andrej Korovljev / Kinematograf (Croatia) SIRIN / Director: Senad Šahmanović / Cut-Up, Alliance de Production Cinématographique (Montenegro, France) THIRD KIND / Director: Yorgos Zois / Foss productions, Squared Square (Greece) THOSE WHO WHISTLE AFTER DARK / Director: Pinar Yorgancioglu / Oh Picture Co. (Turkey, United States) VICTUS / Director: Andrei Tanase / Domestic Film (Romania)
CineLink Drama Selection: 548 / Creator: Triera Kasumi Berisha, Blerta Zeqiri / Dynamic L.L.C. (Kosovo) THE COUNSELLOR / Creator: Višnja Skorin / 3D2D Animatori (Croatia) HOME / Creator: Daria Keršić / Drugi plan (Croatia) SABRE / Creator: Goran Stanković, Vladimir Tagić / This and That Productions (Serbia) SNOW / Creator: Michaela Taschek / Witcraft Filmproduktion (Austria)
Docu Rough Cut Boutique Selection: DIVAS / Director: Máté Kőrösi / ELF Pictures (Hungary) HOLY FATHER / Director: Andrei Dascalescu/ FilmLab (Romania) IN PRAISE OF LOVE / Director: Tamara Drakulić / Monkey Production (Serbia) LEGACY / Director: Petya Nackova / Contrast Films (Bulgaria) MELISSA’S STORY / Director: Asia Dér, Sára Haragonics / Campfilm (Hungary)
Festival In Brief The Sarajevo Film Festival launched in 1995, towards the end of the four-year siege of Sarajevo. Initiated by the Obala Art Centar, the Festival started with the aim to help reconstruct civil society and retain the cosmopolitan spirit of the city. 25 years later, it is a trailblazing international film festival with a special focus on the region of Southeast Europe, dedicated to exposing the region’s talent and bringing the best of European cinema to film-hungry audiences in Sarajevo. The Festival has 17 sections including five that are competitive, taking place in 13 venues and on 15 screens: Competitions – Feature, Short, Documentary & Student Film
Focusing on films by first and second-time directors, the Festival’s competition sections feature a significant number of world and international premieres. The films compete for the prestigious Heart of Sarajevo awards and more than €40,000 in cash prizes. The Festival’s signatory competition sections provide featured authors with maximum exposure, honouring them with Gala Screenings, Red Carpet and Press events.
In Focus
The section presents the best films produced in Southeast Europe and Southern Caucasus in the preceding year, featuring productions that have seen success at prestigious film festivals worldwide (focusing on titles that premiered at Berlinale, Cannes or Locarno).
Avant Premiere
The Avant Premiere section presents gala premieres of up to four local-language films that have clear commercial box-office potential and are slated to open in theatres across the former Yugoslavia in the fall/winter season. To reflect the increasing popularity of TV drama, the 2019 programme will also feature promising upcoming high–end drama series from the region of Southeast Europe.
Open Air
The Open Air section boasts the Festival’s largest venue – the recently refurbished Raiffeisen Open Air Cinema, where 3,300 festivalgoers enjoy screenings of up to eight leading art-house, European and international feature films. The
venue offers the unforgettable experience of watching films under the stars on the biggest screen in the region at top projection quality.
Tribute to
The section hosts and presents retrospectives of the world’s most prominent filmmakers and includes Q&A sessions, a master class and special events.
Kinoscope
Kinoscope presents up to 20 inspiring films directed by well-established and up-and-coming filmmakers. The section brings to Sarajevo narrative and documentary films from around the world (excluding Southeast Europe and the South Caucasus).
Dealing with the Past
Dealing with the Past aims to encourage dialogue about unresolved issues stemming from the 1990s conflicts in former Yugoslavia, through a programme that combines screenings of relevant films, Q&A sessions and related case studies. The Festival seeks to encourage public involvement in order to increase understanding and encourage acknowledgement and tolerance of differences, especially in younger generations.
Dealing with the Past research grant
The 2018 edition of the programme offered a €3,000 research grant to a selected filmmaker from the former Yugoslavia for exploration of one of the stories presented in the True Stories Market (TSM). The TSM is a unique event that connects filmmakers with organizations that document and research the Yugoslav wars of the 90’s, with the aim of introducing the documented stories to wider audiences. The aim is to create an “open source” platform where relevant organizations and filmmakers can meet and collaborate in order to bring important true stories to the attention of larger audiences by using the urgency and power offered by the cinema.
European Shorts
A selection of short films competing for a direct nomination for the 2019 European Film Academy Awards. The winning film from the European Shorts section will be eligible for consideration in the Animated Short Film / Live Action Short Film category of the Academy Awards®.
Summer Screen
Presented under the starry skies, the Summer Screen section offers a selection of narrative and documentary films from around the world that consider current musical or pop culture themes.
MiniArena / Children’s & TeenArena Sections
With the aim to attract young audiences and educate future generations of film lovers, the Festival introduced special sections that combine age–appropriate films with various engaging and educational activities. The sections include: MiniArena (for children between the ages of 4 to 6), Children’s (ages from 6 to 13) and TeenArena (ages from 13 to 18).
SFF Partner Presents
Through its partnership with the Doha Film Institute, the Festival brings to Sarajevo a selection of the films made in the preceding year by Arab filmmakers. This partnership provides industry exchange and strengthens connections between Arab and European cinema. The collaboration will mark its sixth anniversary in 2019.
Human Rights Day
This section focuses on a variety of topics which inspire panel participants, the audience and the media to focus on and discuss pressing problems faced by individuals and communities around the world.
BH Film
Conceived as a ‘window to the world’ for local filmmakers, this national cinema section is organized in collaboration with the Association of Filmmakers of Bosnia and Herzegovina and provides an overview of all films produced in the country in the preceding year.
Festivals industry and training programmes include CineLink Industry Days and Talents Sarajevo. CineLink Industry Days
Shaping the future of the film business in Southeast Europe Since its launch over 17 years ago, the Sarajevo Film Festival industry section has become a major hub for Southeast European film professionals, and has played a crucial role in the expansion of cinematic co-production in the region. It has also become a key destination for professionals from across Europe who are in search of talent and co-production possibilities, or who simply wish to obtain in-depth knowledge about this dynamic region’s business development. The Festival’s industry offering attracts more than 1,200 professionals to its annual event in August, and includes activities for people from all spheres of the business through its interwoven CineLink Industry Days sections: • CineLink Co-Production Market • CineLink Work-in-Progress • CineLink Drama • Docu Rough Cut Boutique
Open Air Cinema, 2nd Sarajevo Film Festival
• True Stories Market • Talents Sarajevo Pack&Pitch • Avant Premieres • CineLink Talks Additional activities are organized in cooperation with partner organizations: • Midpoint TV Launch workshop • Docu Talents from the East (Ji.hlava IDFF) • International Casting Directors Network (ICDN) workshop Our vision is both to serve the current needs of the business and to shape its future. We see more films than ever being made outside the existing value chain, as well as the former borders between cinema and television blurring in terms of the quality of content – and there are so many more screens on which all of this can be seen. Everything is converging, and we continue assembling our programme to reflect this. In addition to our flagship selection of quality projects in development at the CineLink CoProduction Market, screenings of fiction and documentary films in post at CineLink Work-inProgress, and extracts from finished films going into distribution at Avant Premiere Trailers, the CineLink Drama section features new, exciting high-quality drama projects by established filmmakers from the region. The True Stories Market presents film and TV professionals with cases
from the archives of key organisations documenting the Yugoslav wars of the 90’s, while young talents pitch their short film projects at Talents Sarajevo Pack&Pitch. At the same time, this year’s programme reflects a growing demand for support of creative documentaries in the region. Everything in one place; everything connected. CineLink Industry Days provides awards totalling more than €130,000 in cash and services, from Eurimages, Arte, Film Center Montenegro, Film Center Serbia, Post Republic and Turkish National Radio Television, among others.
Talents Sarajevo
Launched and developed in collaboration with Berlinale Talents and the Berlin International Film Festival, Talents Sarajevo is the Sarajevo Film Festival six-day networking and training platform for up-and-coming film professionals from Southeast Europe and the the South Caucasus. Each year, the programme brings together 60 emerging actors, cinematographers, directors, editors, film critics, producers, and screenwriters for an intensive week of seminars, master classes, debates, networking and training opportunities with some of the world’s leading film professionals.
#24thSFF Awards
24th Sarajevo Film Festival Award Winners
COMPETITION PROGRAMME – FEATURE FILM The Heart of Sarajevo Award for the Best Film: ÁGA Director: Milko Lazarov (Bulgaria, Germany, France) Financial Award, in the amount of 16,000 €. The Heart of Sarajevo Award for the Best Director: Ioana Uricaru LEMONADE (Romania, Canada, Germany, Sweden) Financial Award, in the amount of 10,000 €, is provided by Agnes B. The Heart of Sarajevo Award for the Best Actress: Zsófia Szamosi ONE DAY/ EGY NAP Financial Award, in the amount of 2,500 €, sponsored by Tondach. The Heart of Sarajevo for the Best Actor: Leon Lučev THE LOAD/ TERET Financial Award, in the amount of 2,500 €, sponsored by Tondach. COMPETITION PROGRAMME – SHORT FILM The Heart of Sarajevo for the Best Film: BREATH/ DAH Director: Ermin Bravo (Bosnia and Herzegovina) Financial Award, in the amount of 2,500 €, sponsored by Podravka. Special Jury Mentions: ICEBERGS Director: Eirini Vianelli (USA, Greece) COMPETITION PROGRAMME – STUDENT FILM The Heart of Sarajevo for the Best Student Film: LAST CALL Director: Hajni Kis (Hungary) Financial Award, in the amount of 1,000 €, sponsored by Regional Cooperation Council. COMPETITION PROGRAMME – DOCUMENTARY FILM The Heart of Sarajevo for the Best Film: SRBENKA Director: Nebojša Slijepčević (Croatia) Financial award, in the amount of 3,000 €, sponsored by the Government of Switzerland. Special Jury Prize: NINE MONTH WAR/ KILENC HÓNAP HÁBORÚ Director: László Csuja (Hungary, Qatar) Financial award in the amount of 2,500 €. Human Rights Award: ARAF Director: Didem Pekün (Turkey, Greece, Bosnia and Herzegovina) Financial award, in the amount of 3,000 €, sponsored by the Government of Switzerland. HONORARY HEART OF SARAJEVO Nuri Bilge Ceylan, director Nijaz Hastor, the owner and founder of the ASA Prevent Group and founder of the Hastor Foundation CINELINK AWARDS EURIMAGES COPRODUCTION DEVELOPMENT AWARD SAFE PLACE, Director: Juraj Lerotić (Croatia, Slovenia) ARTE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS CINELINK AWARD MAY LABOUR DAY, Director: Pjer Žalica (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, France, Slovenia, Serbia, Montenegro) FILM CENTER MONTENEGRO CINELINK AWARD A CUP OF COFFEE AND NEW SHOES ON, Director: Gentian Koçi (Albania, Greece) EAVE SCHOLARSHIP Producer: Tibor Keser, FIUME O MORTE! (Croatia, France, Slovenia) TRT AWARD: ZAVERA, Director: Andrei Gruzsniczki (Romania) POST REPUBLIC AWARD AFRICA, Director: Oren Gerner (Israel) CINELINK IRIDIUM AWARD IBRAHIM, Director: Lina Alabed (Palestine, Lebanon, Qatar, Denmark) FILM CENTER SERBIA CINELINK DRAMA AWARD GREATER THAN THE DEATH, Creator: Arya Su Altıoklar, Samim Türkmen (Turkey)
Recipients of the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo Award: 2018 Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Nijaz Hastor / 2017 John Cleese, Oliver Stone / 2016 Stephen Frears, Wolfgang Amadeus Brülhart / 2015 Robert De Niro / 2014 Atom Egoyan, Benicio Del Toro / 2014 Gael García Bernal, Danis Tanović, Agnès B. / 2013 Roberto Olla, Béla Tarr / 2012 Branko Lustig / 2011 Angelina Jolie, Jafar Panahi, Emil Tedeschi / 2010 Dieter Kosslick / 2009 Manfred Schmidt / 2008 Cat Villiers / 2007 Steve Buscemi / 2006 Mike Leigh, Gavrilo Grahovac / 2005 Marco Müller
Sarajevo Film Festival congratulates our dear friends and partners at Doha Film Institute on the DFI supported films at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival
IT MUST BE HEAVEN directed by Elia Suleiman
THE ORPHANAGE directed by Shahrbanoo Sadat
ADAM directed by Maryam Touzani
TO LIVE TO SING directed by Johnny Ma
PAPICHA directed by Mounia Meddour
THE UNKNOWN SAINT directed by Alaa Eddine Aljem
ABOU LEILA directed by Amin Sidi-Boumédiène
IN YOUR HANDS a film by Maša Šarović (Serbia) and Sharon Engelhart (Israel) After begging her to return, Zorica picks her daughter Maja at the airport. In the car, she tells her a surprising news and takes her to an unknown place where mother and daughter will revisit their roles.
THE PACKAGE a film by Dušan Kasalica (Montenegro) and Teodora Ana Mihai (Romania / Belgium) After several years in Paris, Damir, saxophonist, returns to Sarajevo for a concert. One of his friends asked him to bring a gift to her best friend, Elma, who is waiting for Damir with some surprises...
THE RIGHT ONE a film by Urška Djukić (Slovenia) and Gabriel Tzafka (Greece / Denmark) A possessive mother, a loving son, the fiancée’s first visit, a mute witness... Four players around a pie.
THE SIGN a film by Eleonora Veninova (North Macedonia) and Yona Rozenkier (Israel / Switzerland) Sara firmly disagree with her granddaughter’s wedding plans. To convince her not to marry, she takes Andrea to her husband grave and begged him for a sign.
SPIT a film by Neven Samardžić (Slovenia) and Carolina Markowicz (Brazil) Anka, 12, and Yelena, 38, have two common things: a mother in the hospital and a neighborhood grocery store where they spend their days, one inside, the other in front of. One evening, an unexpected visit provokes an incident that both women will suffer from.
Benicio Del Toro
Michael Fassbender
“A brilliant experience thanks to the people, the incredible hospitality and kindness and the wonderful culture.� Michael Fassbender
HIGHLIGHTS 2015 Morgan Freeman
“I’ll treasure this award – my ‘Heart of Sarajevo’ – because I don’t think there is another city in the world that has shown such heart in the face of so much tragedy.” Robert De Niro
Bono
Robert De Niro, recipient of the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo, Open Air Cinema
“The festival, as well as being great, is great fun. The key to understanding the city and its people is the sense of humour – sometimes black and blue, but always a belly laugh.” Bono
Mirsad Purivatra, Festival Director, and Gael García Bernal, recipient of the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo, Open Air Cinema
Michael Moore
“The Sarajevo Film Festival, the leading movie event for Southeast Europe, has reformatted its structure in order to re-affirm its position as a ‘must-attend’ international event.” Variety Daniel Craig and Alexander Payne
Darren Aronofsky
“I have so many memories from Sarajevo, where to start?” Darren Aronofsky
Judita Franković Brdar, Asghar Farhadi, Brigitte Lacombe, Mike Goodridge, Ana Urushadze, Competition Programme - Feature Film Jury, 24th Sarajevo Film Festival
Juliette Binoche
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie
“And it’s not, it’s not JUST about film, it’s about what film means and it’s about sharing, so… It’s the best festival.”Angelina Jolie
Gillian Anderson
CineLink Industry Drink
“CineLink Industry Days turned into the largest marketplace for regional industry insiders, with the Cinelink market, a hive of networking and deals for those interested in Southeastern Europe.” The Hollywood Reporter
Docu Rough Cut Boutique session
“Creating that journey for projects through the various initiatives at CineLink, guiding them from inception to completion, is a key goal for the CineLink Industry Days team.” Screen Daily
CineLink Talks
CineLink one-to-one meetings
“Sarajevo Film Festival draws best from the Southeast Europe” Variety
Speed Dating
60 talents in 7 fields of work: actors, directors, cinematographers, editors, producers, screenwriters and film critics
Béla Tarr
19 countries of Southeast Europe and the South Caucasus
Mike Leigh
Conversations, events, panels, presentations, screenings and workshops
Jean-Michel Frodon and Leos Carax
Cary Fukunaga and Michael Fassbender
“The friendliest, warmest, and coolest festival in the world.” Todd Solondz
Gaspar Noé
Todd Solondz
Some of the previous Festival guests: Victoria Abril, Fatih Akin, Gillian Anderson, Darren Aronofsky, Armand Assante, Olivier Assayas, Agnes B., Aida Begić, Bérénice Bejo, Gael García Bernal, Susanne Bier, Enki Bilal, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Adrian Biniez, Juliette Binoche, Jane Birkin, Carol Bouquet, Ewen Bremner, Steve Buscemi, Juan José Campanella, Eric Cantona, Leos Carax, Katrin Cartlidge, Damien Chazelle, John Cleese, Anton Corbijn, Mark Cousins, Daniel Craig, Alfonso Cuarón, Liam Cunnigham, Willem Dafoe, Robert De Niro, Benicio Del Toro, Claire Denis, Gérard Depardieu, Bruno Dumont, Atom Egoyan, Amat Escalante, Asghar Farhadi, Michael Fassbender, Abel Ferrara, Ari Folman, Kerry Fox, Michel Franco, Scott Franklin, Stephen Frears, Morgan Freeman, Cary Fukunaga, Terry George, Danny Glover, Javier Godino, David Gordon Green, Lucile Hadžihalilović, Todd Haynes, Michel Hazanavicius, Emile Hirsch, Ted Hope, Hugh Hudson, Danny Huston, Jeremy Irons, Angelina Jolie, Gemma Jones, Charlie Kaufman, Dieter Kosslick, Nadine Labaki, Alexandra Maria Lara, Annie Leibovitz, Mike Leigh, Sebastian Lelio, Claude Lelouch, Melissa Leo, Ken Loach, Gwei Lun-Mei, John Malkovich, Milčo Mančevski, Lesley Manville, Karl Markovics, Joshua Marston, Lucrecia Martel, Simon McBurney, Anthony Minghella, Brillante Mendoza, Hans Petter Moland, Lukas Moodysson, Michael Moore, Nanni Moretti, Marco Mueller, Peter Mullan, Kornél Mundruczó, Cristian Mungiu, Anna Muylaert, László Nemes, James Nesbitt, Gaspar Noé, Nick Nolte, Joshua Oppenheimer, Jafari Panahi, Álvaro Pastor, Pawel Pawlikowski, Alexander Payne, Brad Pitt, Cristi Puiu, Charlotte Rampling, Vanessa Redgrave, Carlos Reygadas, Sam Riley, Phil Alden Robinson, Mickey Rourke, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Ulrich Seidl, Jim Sheridan, Brad Silbering, Stellan Skarsgård, Todd Solondz, Kevin Spacey, Whit Stillman, Oliver Stone, Elia Suleiman, Danis Tanović, Béla Tarr, Juergen Teller, Christine Vachon, Bono Vox, Emily Watson, Wim Wenders, Michael Winterbottom, Jasmila Žbanić, Jia Zhang-ke
Save the dates: 25th Sarajevo Film Festival / 16 – 23 August 2019 CineLink Industry Days / 17 – 22 August Talents Sarajevo / 17 – 22 August Film Submissions for Competition Programmes and BH Film Programme, unless otherwise specified: 25 May CineLink Co-production Market application deadline: 30 May Talents Sarajevo application deadline: 20 May Accreditations: Applications are accepted from June
#25thSFF www.sff.ba
51st Directors’ Fortnight SCREENINGS Wednesday, May 15th, 16:45 Theatre Croisette Sunday, May 19th, 11:30 Cinéma Alexandre III