Dealing with the Past
Supported by:
Partner:
Main sponsors of Sarajevo Film Festival
Content
4
Introduction
6
Films
10
True Stories Market
17
Partner / Team
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Introduction
Dealing with the Past – Are There Good People in Terrible Times? In these unprecedented times, when it seems that the world we used to know will not exist in the future, truth-seeking and fact-checking are more important than ever. But the anxieties of the world we have left behind will trickle into the new order and be triggered again. If we have learnt anything over the past months, I daresay it is that our personal lives can be turned upside-down in a matter of moments. The Dealing with the Past programme has had a clear mission since its start: to conduct honest dialogue about our region’s recent past as a prerequisite to resolving the problems that stem from the Yugoslav Wars, which still strain our societies. Over the last five years, we have shared many gut-wrenching but inspiring stories from around the world. The lives of the protagonists of these stories have been radically altered, while our audiences have at times been rendered speechless or, perhaps more often, hungry for more information. Viewed through the lens of the current pandemic, these topics – the uncovering of personal and national traumas and the examination of reconciliation processes – might seem of secondary importance but in the long run they are essential for healthy and prosperous democratic societies. This year’s programme centres on powerful individuals and their struggles, and on episodes in their lives that abruptly and drastically change their living conditions. As we are now questioning human solidarity more than ever, each film poses the same question: Are there good people in terrible times? Moreover, the selection is stylistically unified in that all films are shot in black and white. How can such compelling and troublesome stories be reduced to shades of grey? Does an austere visual aesthetic undermine the difficult and dreadful side of a story? Perhaps it can highlight such aspects all the more? The line-up features a polyphony of authorial voices, of the subjects they explore, and of aesthetic approaches. Croatian filmmaker Dana Budisavljević makes her directorial debut with THE DIARY OF DIANA B., a docu-fiction work about a woman who saved the lives of more than 10,000 children who had been sent to Nazi concentration camps during World War II. THE PAINTED BIRD by Václav Marhoul of the Czech Republic is an adaptation of Jerzy Kosiński’s novel of the same name. Magnificently shot, the film describes World War II from the perspective of a young boy. An atmospheric film noir by Slovakia’s Ivan Ostrochovský, SERVANTS gives us a glimpse into the lives of young seminarians who are torn between the Catholic Church and the ruling Communist Party in 1980s Czechoslovakia.
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WHAT YOU GONNA DO WHEN THE WORLD’S ON FIRE? is a documentary by Italian director Roberto Minervini about a community of African Americans in the American South during the summer of 2017, when a string of brutal, racially motivated killings sent shockwaves throughout the United States. To our great pleasure, Dealing with the Past presents IRRADIATED, the most recent film by Cambodian master Rithy Panh, who will also conduct a career master class. The film focusses on people who have survived physical and psychological irradiation as a result of war – and is recommended to those who believe they are immune to it. Alongside the film programme of Dealing with the Past, the True Stories Market has allowed us to present many stories that have great potential to be realised as thought-provoking films. and that have served as inspiration to many filmmakers. Current social-distancing regulations unfortunately interrupt our ability to conduct the market as we have in the past; nevertheless, we wish to continue this important conversation and keep working to expose stories that urgently need to be told. This year’s True Stories Market programme features inspiring talks by Bosnian and Herzegovinian artists and authors who have been exploring the culture of memory in their work.
Maša Marković, Dealing with the Past Programme Manager and Curator
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Films
The Diary of Diana B.
AUDENTIA AWARD NOMINEE NOMINATION AU PRIX AUDENTIA
Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, 2019, Black and white, 88 min. Director: Dana Budisavljevic Cast: Alma Prica, Živko Zelenbrz, Nada Vlaisavljević, Zorka Janjanin, Milorad Jandrić
Austrian-born Diana Budisavljević and her doctor husband, her daughters and her new-born granddaughter lived comfortably as members of
Irradiated France, Cambodia, 2020, Colour, 88 min. Director: Rithy Panh Cast: Bion, André Wilms, Rebecca Marder
IRRADIATED is made by people who have survived physical and psychological irradiation as a result of war, and is recommended to those who believe
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the Zagreb upper class when, in the fall of 1941, she learned that Jewish and Serb women and children were being taken to concentration camps and left there to die of hunger and sickness. Budisavljević and a few of her friends took matters into their own hands, organising a campaign that ultimately saved the lives of more than 10,000 children.
they are immune to it: “What it means to be a survivor cannot be put into words. To live on, to make contact with this irradiation, for which there may be no cause, no knowledge, but from which there is no protection. Evil radiates. It hurts – even later generations. But beyond this pain lies innocence.” (Phan)
The Painted Bird Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, 2019, Black and white, 169 min. Director: Václav Marhoul Cast: Stellan Skarsgård, Barry Pepper, Harvey Keitel, Julian Sands, Udo Kier
The film follows the journey of the Boy, who has been entrusted by his persecuted parents to an
Servants Slovakia, Romania, Czech Republic, Ireland, 2020, Black and white, 80 min. Director: Ivan Ostrochovský Cast: Samuel Skyva, Samuel Polakovič, Vlad Ivanov, Vladimír Strnisko, Milan Mikulčík
elderly foster mother. The old woman soon dies and the Boy is on his own, wandering through the countryside, from village to farmhouse. As he struggles to survive, the Boy suffers the extraordinary brutality meted out by the superstitious peasants and he witnesses the terrifying violence of efficient, ruthless soldiers, both Russian and German.
molding the seminarians into a shape satisfactory to the ruling Communist Party. Each of the young students must decide if he will give in to temptation and choose the easier path of collaboration with the regime, or if he will subject himself to draconian surveillance by the secret police.
The year is 1980. Michal and Juraj are students at a theological seminary in totalitarian Czechoslovakia. Fearing the dissolution of the school, its tutors are DEALING WITH THE PAST 2020 I 7
What You Gonna Do When the World’s on Fire? Italy, United States, France, 2018, Black and white, 123 min. Director: Roberto Minervini
Summer 2017. A string of brutal police killings of young African American men has sent shockwaves throughout the country. A Black community in the
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American South tries to cope with the lingering effects of the past and navigate their place in a country that is not on their side. Meanwhile, the Black Panthers prepare a large-scale protest against police brutality.
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ondemand.sff.ba #SFFonline 2020
Prati SFF online od 14. do 21. augusta Preko 180 filmova iz svih festivalskih programa
Tune in to SFF online from the 14th to the 21st of August Over 180 films from all Festival programmes
5 ekskluzivnih intervjua 5 exclusive career interviews sa zvijezdama festivala with festivals star guests 10 panel diskusija na temu savremene kinematografije
10 panel discussions on the state of contemporary cinema
Informacije o ulaznicama pronađi na web stranici Sarajevo Film Festivala! Find the ticket information on Sarajevo Film Festival’s website! #26thSFF / www.sff.ba 10 I DEALING WITH THE PAST 2020
SARAJEVO FILM FESTIVAL / 14-21/08/2020 / www.sff.ba
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Masterclass
MASTERCLASS: IN CONVERSATION with Rithy Panh Rithy Panh was born in 1964 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. He fled the Khmer Rouge dictatorship and came to Paris in 1980 where he studied at the Institut des Hautes Études Cinématographiques (now la Fémis). His 2003 documentary S21: THE KHMER ROUGE KILLING MACHINE addressed the Khmer Rouge’s policy of systematic extermination between 1975 and 1979. He is co-founder of the Centre Bophana, which is dedicated to archiving Cambodian film heritage. His 2013 documentary film THE MISSING PICTURE was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the top prize.
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True Stories Market Alongside the film programme of Dealing with the Past, the TRUE STORIES MARKET has allowed us to present many stories that have great potential to be realised as thought-provoking films. and that have served as inspiration to many filmmakers. The current situation doesn’t allow us to conduct the market as we have in the past; nevertheless, we wish to continue this important conversation and keep working to expose stories that urgently need to be told. This year’s True Stories Market programme features inspiring talks by Bosnian and Herzegovinian artists and authors who have been exploring the culture of memory in their work.
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Speakers and Consultants
PHOTO BY EDVIN KALIĆ
DAMIR IMAMOVIĆ Born in 1978 in Sarajevo. Growing up in a family of sevdah bards, Damir got immersed in the world of Balkan traditional music very early. He started tracing his own path in sevdah beginning 2000s urged by friendship with Farah Tahirbegović, a singer from the band “Dertum”. In 2006 he recorded his first album followed by concerts in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the region of former Yugoslavia. Later his tours would take him from different corners of Europe to China, USA, India, Japan and Mexico. He worked with musicians such as Eric Vloeimans, Greg Cohen, Ivana Đurić, Bojan Z, Vlatko Stefanovski, Ivan Mihajlović, Nenad Kovačić, Vlado Kreslin, Derya Türkan, Jadranka Stojaković, Frenkie, Jelena Popržan, Vasil Hadžimanov, and producers Chris Eckman (“Dvojka”, Damir Imamović Sevdah Takht, The Glitterbeat Records, 2016) and Joe Boyd & Andrea Goertler (“Singer of Tales”, Damir Imamović feat. Greg Cohen, Derya Türkan & Ivana Đurić, Wrasse Records, 2020). Damir’s art is deeply rooted in his research & educational work. Within his own SevdahLab project, Damir gave lectures and held workshops internationally. In National Art Gallery in Sarajevo, he curated a multimedia exhibition “Sevdah, the art of freedom” in 2015. The following year, he published the first history of the genre of sevdalinka - “Sevdah” (Vrijeme, 2016, also available in English). Apart from his performances, research and writing on sevdah, Damir also writes for theatre, film, video games and other performers. He won several local and international awards and recognitions. ADELA JUŠIĆ Adela Jušić was born on 1982 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. She graduated at the Academy of Fine Arts, Department of Printmaking, University of Sarajevo in 2007 (MA), and holds MA in Democracy and Human Rights in South East Europe from Sarajevo and Bologna Universities, 2013. Jušić has exhibited in more than 100 international exhibitions (Manifesta 8, Murcia, Spain; Videonale, Kunstmuseum Bonn, Germany; Image Counter Image, Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany, Balkan Insight, Pompidou Center, Paris). She has participated in many artists in residence programs (ISCP, New York; Kulturkontakt, Vienna; i.a.a.b. Basel, Museums Quartier, Vienna) and in numerous panels, workshops and conferences. In 2010 she won Young Visual Artist Award for the best young Bosnian artist in 2010, Henkel Young Artist Price CEE in 2011, and Special award of Belgrade October Salon in 2013. Her works are part of many private and public collections. She is a co-founder and worked at cultural projects at the Association for Culture and Art Crvena from 2010-18, and is one of the creators of Online archive of Antifascist struggle of women of B&H and Yugoslavia. DEALING WITH THE PAST 2020 I 13
PHOTO BY WOLFGANG LERHNER
PHOTO BY MEHMED MAHMUTOVIĆ
MLADEN MILJANOVIĆ Born in Zenica in 1981, completed the secondary school in Doboj. After the secondary school he attended the Reserve Officer School where he earned the rank of sergeant. As a sergeant he trained 30 privates. After completion of the military term he enrolled at the Academy of Arts (Department of Painting, BA -MA) in Banja Luka. Lives and works in Banja Luka were teaches as professor of Intermedia art at Academy of Arts (UNIBL). He is one of the few defining figures of postwar regional contemporary art scene, developing radicaly new methodes in art that are going far beyond national borders. He participated in many group exhibitions, and here is selection of some solo projects and exhibitions: “Utopian Realism” Peackook center for Contemporary arts, Aberdeen, Scotland (UK) 2019; “Strike” Museum of contemporary arts Vojvodina, Novi Sad (Serbia),2017; “In Low Flight” ACB Gallery, Budapest (Hungary), 2017; “The Garden of Delights” 55th “La Biennale di Venezia” BiH Pavilion at Palazzo Malipiero, Venice (Italy), 2013; “Good Night - State of Body” MC gallery, New York (USA), 2012; “Museum Service“ MUMOK, Vienna (Austria), 2010; “Ocupational Therapy”, MSURS, Banja Luka, (BiH) 2008; He is the winner of “White Aphroid Award” 2020, “HenkelArt Award” Beč, 2009; “Zvono” award 2007 and Award of Museum of Contemporary arts RS, 2005.
SELMA SELMAN Selma Selman (b.1991) comes from Bosnia and Herzegovina and is of Romani origin. She earned her BFA in 2014 from Banja Luka University’s Department of Painting and in 2018 she graduated from Syracuse University, MFA - Visual and Performing Arts in the USA. In her artworks, her ultimate aim is to protect and enable female bodies and enact a cross-scalar approach to collective self-emancipation of oppressed women. Her search for functional, contemporary political resistance stems from her personal experience with oppression from various directions and scales. In 2014 Selman was the recipient of the “Zvono Award”, given to young artist in Bosnia. Selman participated in Tania Bruguera’s International Summer Academy in Salzburg, “Arte Util” in 2013. In 2017 Selman was awarded “Trieste Contemporanea Award”, Trieste (ITA). In 2018 she was nominated for Forbes 30 under 30, Art and Style. In 2019 she was the winner of the White Aphroid Award, Maribor (SLO), as well as the winner of the “Power of Excellence Award”, by Association of Business Women in BiH and Magazine Grazia, Sarajevo (BIH). Selman’s works have been exhibited at: Kunsthalle Wien, AUT (2020); L’Onde Center for Art, Paris, FRA, (2020); 58th Venice Biennale, IT (2019);
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Queens museum, NY, USA (2019); Villa Romana, Firenze, IT (2019); The Creative Time Summit, Miami, USA (2018); 3. Berlin Herbstsalon, Maxim Gorki Theatre, Berlin, GER (2017); acb Gallery, Budapest, HUN (2017); agnès b. Galerie Boutique, New York, USA (2017); New Children Gallery, New Orleans, USA (2016); Kunstquartier Bethanien, Berlin, GER (2016); Museum of Contemporary Art, Banja Luka, (BH) 2014 and many more. Selman is a founder of the organization Get The Heck To School whose aim is to empowering Roma girls who faced the ostracization from the society and poverty. She lives and works in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the USA and across Europe.
PHOTO BY JIM MARSHALL
SELMA SPAHIĆ Selma Spahić was born in 1986. She graduated Directing from the Academy of Performing Arts in Sarajevo. She has directed plays, devised theater pieces and led workshops in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Germany and the UK. Amongst others, she staged Woyzeck by Georg Büchner, Spring Awakening by Frank Wedekind, The Lonesome West by Martin McDonagh, Doubt by John Patrick Shanley, Women Who Clean (based on Jean Genet’s The Maids), The Hen (based on the motifs of The Notebook, by A. Kristof), Liliom by Ferenc Molnar, The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Afanasievich Bulgakov, Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare and Arthur Brooke, The Children of the Sun by Maxim Gorky. She often works in the fields of devised and documentary theater. Her documentary piece Hypermnesia, based on the childhood stories of eight actors from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Kosovo has been praised on numerous European theater festivals (amongst others the play was published in Theater Heute magazine and performed at Neue Stücke aus Europa in Wiesbaden, Kontakt in Torun and Cuturescapes in Switzerland). A completely different documentary approach was The Assembly, based on the parliamentary sittings in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1996 to 2013. For My Factory, she collected stories of former factory workers in a steel plant which is now closed, in Between the Walls, the myths of a family past related to World War II are deconstructed. She also focuses on the plays of B&H and regional authors, having staged, amongst others: Simona Semenič (tisočdevetsetenainosamdeset), Tanja Šljivar (Scratching or How My Grandmother Killed Herself), Dino Pešut (L.U.Z.E.R.I., Stela, the Flood), Tomislav Zajec (That Which is Missing), The Secret of Raspberry Jam (Karim Zaimović). She also works in the field of community theater and performance. Her latest piece is The Clickworkers, which she also co-wrote with Dino Pešut in Schauspiel Stuttgart in 2020. She was the Artistic Director of International Theater Festival MESS from 2012 to 2017. She now works at the Academy of Performing Arts in Sarajevo.
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DAMIR ŠAGOLJ Damir Šagolj, born in 1971 in Sarajevo, is a Bosnian photographer and journalist. He completed power engineering studies in Moscow and Sarajevo but the Bosnian war and its total destruction meant a change in career for Damir. In 1996 he joined Reuters news agency as theirs Bosnia based photojournalist. For next 22 years Damir travelled the world and reported on major news stories for the agency – mostly on conflicts, civil and other disturbances and natural catastrophes, but also on contemporary and other issues. He lived in Russia, Thailand, China and spent years in the Middle East. Damir’s work was recognised with industry’s major awards – the Pulitzer prize and World Press Photo among many others. He holds a master degree from the University of Arts in London. Currently, Damir lives in Sarajevo and teaches photography at the Sarajevo Academy of Performing Arts.
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Partners The Robert Bosch Stiftung GmbH is one of Europe’s largest foundations associated with a private company. In its charitable work, it addresses social issues at an early stage and develops exemplary solutions. For this purpose, it plans and implements its own projects. Additionally, it supports third-party initiatives that have similar goals. The Robert Bosch Stiftung is active in the areas of health, science, society, education, and international relations. Moreover, in the coming years, the Foundation will increasingly direct its activities on three focus areas: •Migration, Integration, and Inclusion •Social Cohesion in Germany and Europe •Sustainable Living Spaces The Robert Bosch Stiftung is committed to upholding the values and example of its founder Robert Bosch and continuing his philanthropic work. With more than 50 years’ experience, the Foundation has extensive knowledge, the qualifications for developing solutions, and a comprehensive network of partners, experts, and practitioners. The Robert Bosch Stiftung is owner of the Robert Bosch Hospital and the associated research institutes in Stuttgart, the Institute for the History of Medicine, and the Dr. Margarete Fischer-Bosch-Institute for Clinical Pharmacology, as well as the International Alumni Center in Berlin. The Robert Bosch Stiftung is founding partner of the UWC Robert Bosch College in Freiburg and the German School Academy in Berlin. The Foundation holds about a 92 percent stake in Robert Bosch GmbH and finances its operations from the dividends it receives from this holding. Since it was established in 1964, the Robert Bosch Stiftung has invested around 1.6 billion euros in charitable work.
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Team Project Manager: Maša Marković Project Coordinator: Ishak Jalimam Host of the programme Dealing with the Past: Robert Tomić Zuber Tue Steen Muller Selection board for True Stories Market: Djani Hasečić, Damir Šagolj, Nataša Damnjanović, Boro Kontić, Maša Marković, Robert Tomić Zuber
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Sarajevo Film Festival Zelenih beretki 12, 71000 Sarajevo / Bosnia and Herzegovina tel. +387 33 221 516 / +387 33 209 411 / +387 33 263 380 / fax +387 33 263 381 www.sff.ba | info-sff@sff.ba | dwp@sff.ba