News
21st Sarajevo Film Festival Final Report
The Sarajevo Film Festival is an international film festival with a special focus on the region of South East Europe.
The focus on Region through the Competition selections for feature, short and documentary film, as well as a focus on the film industry (CineLink), an educational platform for young filmmakers (Talents Sarajevo), and the presence of the international film industry, filmmakers and media representatives, together with over 100 000 visitors, confirms SFF’s status as the leading film festival in the region, recognized by film professionals and the wider public alike.
In an emerging territory of over 180 million inhabitants, the Sarajevo Film Festival serves as a common platform for the film industry in the entire region, setting standards for the organization of film festivals, as well as for the promotion and presentation of film in South East Europe. Furthermore, the Sarajevo Film Festival shines an international spotlight on films, talent and future film projects from South East Europe.
During the nine days of the 21st Sarajevo Film Festival, numerous eminent filmmakers presented their work to the audience.
The 22nd Sarajevo Film Festival will take place from the 12th to the 20th of August 2016.
21st SARAJEVO FILM FESTIVAL IN NUMBERS
• 259 FILMS FROM 57 COUNTRIES
• 9 VENUES
• 18 PROGRAMMES
• OVER 1.500 ACCREDITED GUESTS FROM 70 COUNTRIES
• OVER 700 ACCREDITED MEDIA REPRESENTATIVES FROM 32 COUNTRIES
• OVER 100.000 VISITORS AT ALL THE PROGRAMMES
21ST SARAJEVO FILM FESTIVAL GUESTS LIST
21ST SARAJEVO FILM FESTIVAL AWARDS
OFFICIAL AWARDS
COMPETITION PROGRAMME – FEATURE FILM
Jury:
President of the Jury: Călin Peter Netzer, director (Romania)
Members of the Jury:
Diana Bustamante, Artistic Director of Cartagena International Film Festival (Colombia)
Zrinka Cvitešić, Actress (Croatia, UK)
Mike Downey, Producer (UK, Ireland)
Maja Miloš, Director (Serbia)
HEART OF SARAJEVO FOR BEST FEATURE FILM
MUSTANG
Turkey, France, Germany, Qatar
Director: Deniz Gamze Ergüven
Financial Award, in the amount of 16,000 €, is provided by Council of Europe
SPECIAL JURY PRIZE
SON OF SAUL / SAUL FIA
Hungary
Director: László Nemes
Financial Award, in the amount of 10,000 €, is provided by Agnes B.
SPECIAL JURY MENTION
CHEVALIER
Greece
Director: Athina Rachel Tsangari
HEART OF SARAJEVO FOR BEST ACTRESS
Güneş Şensoy, Doga Doğuşlu, Tuğba Sunguroğlu, Elit İşcan, Ilayda Akdoğan (MUSTANG / Turkey, France, Germany, Qatar)
Financial award in the amount of 2,500 €
HEART OF SARAJEVO FOR BEST ACTOR
Yorgos Kéntros, Vangelis Mouríkis, Panos Kóronis, Makis Papadimitríou, Yorgos Pyrpassópoulos, Sakis Rouvás (CHEVALIER / Greece)
Financial award in the amount of 2,500 €
COMPETITION PROGRAMME – SHORT FILM
Jury:
Marion Döring, European Film Academy Director (Germany)
Una Gunjak, Director and film editor (UK)
Alice Kharoubi, Head of Cannes Film Festival Short Films (France)
HEART OF SARAJEVO FOR BEST SHORT FILM
A MATTER OF WILL / BISERNA OBALA
Montenegro
Director: Dušan Kasalica
Financial award in the amount of 2,500 €
SPECIAL JURY MENTION
DAMAGED GOODS / KALO
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Director: Nermin Hamzagić
SPECIAL JURY MENTION
TUESDAY / SALI
Turkey, France
Director: Ziya Demirel
COMPETITION PROGRAMME – DOCUMENTARY FILM
Jury:
Boro Kontić, Director of the Media Center in Sarajevo (Bosnia-Herzegovina)
Juliano Ribeiro Salgado, Director/writer (France, Brasil)
Anka Schmid, Filmmaker, videoartist (Switzerland)
HEART OF SARAJEVO FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM
TOTO AND HIS SISTERS / TOTO ŞI SURORILE LUI
Romania
Director: Alexander Nanau
Financial award, in the amount of 3,000 €, is provided by The Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.
SPECIAL JURY PRIZE FOR COMPETITION PROGRAMME DOCUMENTARY FILM
TITITÁ
Hungary
Director: Tamás Almási
Financial Award, in the amount of 2,500 €, is provided by Al Jazeera Balkans.
SPECIAL JURY MENTION
FLOTEL EUROPA
Denmark, Serbia
Director: Vladimir Tomić
HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD
ONE DAY IN SARAJEVO / JEDAN DAN U SARAJEVU
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria
Director: Jasmila Žbanić
Award for the best film of the Competition Programme - Documentary Film dealing with the subject of human rights. Award in the amount of 3,000 € is granted by The Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.
HONORARY HEART OF SARAJEVO
Atom Egoyan, director
Benicio Del Toro, actor
KATRIN CARTLIDGE FOUNDATION AWARD 2015
Ran Huang
CINELINK AWARDS
Co-production market jury:
Behrooz Hashemian, Silkroad Production
Čedomir Kolar, ASAP Films
Georges Goldenstern, Festival Cannes
Rémi Burah, ARTE FRANCE
Annamaria Lodato, ARTE France
Darko Baseski, Macedonian Film Agency
Dorien Van de Pas, Netherlands Film Fund
EURIMAGES COPRODUCTION DEVELOPMENT AWARD
A BALLADE Aida Begić / Adis Đapo
20,000 €
ARTE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS CINELINK AWARD
HAMARAT APARTMENT Huseyin Karabey / Su Baloglu
6,000 €
MACEDONIAN FILM AGENCY CINELINK AWARD
THE SON Ines Tanović / Alem Babić
10,000 €
LIVING PICTURES SERVICE CINELINK AWARD
SOLDIERS Ivana Mladenović / Ada Solomon
in kind support up to 10,000 €
SYNCHRO FILM VIENNA CINELINK AWARD
A BALLADE Aida Begić / Adis Đapo
HAMARAT APARTMENT Huseyin Karabey / Su Baloglu
THE SON Ines Tanović / Alem Babić
in kind support up to 2,500 € each
EAVE SCHOLARSHIP
Alem Babić
WORK IN PROGRESS AWARDS
Work in Progress Jury:
Khalil Benkirane, Head of Grants, Doha Film Institute
Tanja Meissner, Head of International Sales & Acquisitions, Memento Films
Tolke Palm, The Post Republic
POST REPUBLIC AWARD
THE FIXER Adrian Sitaru / Anamaria Antoci
in kind post production services worth 50.000 €
RESTART AWARD
GODLESS Ralitza Petrova / Rossitsa Valkanova
in kind support worth 20.000 €
YOUNG AUDIENCE AWARD
NEXT TO ME
21st SARAJEVO FILM FESTIVAL PARTNERS AWARDS
HT ERONET AUDIENCE AWARD FOR BEST FEATURE FILM
MUSTANG
HT ERONET AUDIENCE AWARD FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM
CHASING A DREAM
ASSOCIATION OF FILMMAKERS IN B&H - “IVICA MATIĆ” AWARD
Mirsad Purivatra
for his contribution to B&H cinema
Zoran Galić
for his contribution to B&H cinema
CINEUROPA PRIZE
SUPERWORLD
Austria
Karl Markovics
Jury: Arben Zharku, David Gonzales
CICAE AWARD
THE HIGH SUN
Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia
Dalibor Matanić
Jury: Kevin De Ridder, Silvia Bahl
EDN TALENT GRANT
I LIKE THAT SUPER MOST THE BEST
Croatia
Eva Kraljević
SARAJEVO SHORT FILM NOMINEE FOR THE EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS 2015
TRANSLATOR
Turkey
Emre Kayiş
Jury: Laurent Crouzeixis, Marina Kožul, Tom Shoval
Best Pack & Pitch Award (Talents Sarajevo Pack & Pitch)
The best pitch
Anda Puscas
The postproduction of sound services in the amount of 4.000 EUR provided by studio Chelia
Ismet Kurtulus
An Invitation to CineLink’s Coproduction Market
BH FILM STUDENT PROGRAMME AWARD
Best film:
VEJDA: ENCHANTED WORLD OF FAIRIES
Julia Klier (ASU Sarajevo)
Special Jury Award
IMPERATIV
Jelena Ilić Todorović (Akademija umjetnosti Banja Luka)
Special Jury Mention
WOYZECK
Adi Selimović (ASU Sarajevo)
Jury: Adis Đapo, Mirna Dizdarević, Mladen Đukić
DOCU ROUGH CUT BOUTIQUE AWARDS
Work in Progress Digital Cube Award
KORIDA
Siniša Vidović
HBO Adria Award 2,000 EUROS
KORIDA
Siniša Vidović
IDFA Award
LITTLE BERLIN WALL
Toma Chagelishvili
CAT &Docs Award 2,000 EUROS
CINEMA, MON AMOUR
Alexandru Belc
Croatian Radio-television Award (HRT) 2,000 EUROS
CINEMA, MON AMOUR
Alexandru Belc
HUMAN RIGHTS DAY 2015
In cooperation with the Embassy of Switzerland and the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, the Sarajevo Film Festival will host the Human Rights Day for the seventh year in a row.
As part of the activities marking the Human Rights Day, which will be held on Tuesday, 18 August 2015, the Sarajevo Film Festival will organize a special programme, including a screening of the film THOSE WHO FEEL THE FIRE BURNING, by Morgan Knibbe and a panel at the Multiplex Cinema City.
The topic for this year’s Human Rights Panel is TAKE DOWN THE FENCES. Because of the situation in the Middle East described as one of the greatest humanitarian crisis since World War II, thousands of migrants are trying to reach Europe and seek asylum there because they are deprived of the basic human rights in their home countries. Although precise data on immigration trends for 2014 are still unavailable, information from previous years indicates that there is a huge rise in the number of migrants seeking asylum in the countries of the European Union. Majority of migrants who reach the EU apply for asylum in Germany, Sweden, Italy, France and the United Kingdom. Most of the asylum seekers come from Syria, Eritrea and Afghanistan. Migration within Europe is also significant, with citizens of the non EU-member countries of “West Balkans” and southern EU-member countries (Greece, Spain, Portugal) moving to the countries of central and northern Europe in hope to secure better living conditions for themselves and their families.
Estimates show that some 65 percent or 3,279 of migrants who died at EU borders died when ships the human smugglers transported them in sank in the Mediterranean. The number of illegal immigrants continues to grow. In the final months of 2014 a growing number of Kosovo citizens have also been registered crossing into the EU at the border between Serbia and Hungary.
The immigration crisis is one of the greatest problems faced by Europe today, but is there a common solution for it? How have we reached this point? Has the long-term economic crisis contributed to the growing fear of “others and those who are different”? Has the sense of solidarity disappeared and is the end of the crisis in sight? These are just some of the questions we will try to answer at this year’s panel debate organized within the Human Rights Day of the Sarajevo Film Festival.
The Competition Programme – Documentary Film of the Sarajevo Film Festival showcases films inspired by various aspects of human rights and by marking this special day we aim to further emphasise the importance of film as a significant and powerful media for the promotion of human rights. The films and topics chosen each year for marking the Human Rights Day provide an opportunity for panel participants, the audience and the media to discuss pressing problems currently faced by individuals or communities in the world.
1995 - 2015
Dealing with the Past
"Slovenia’s declaration of independence from the Republic of Yugoslavia in 1991 marked the start of the dismantling of the former Yugoslavia. Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) followed suit. The fighting between Slovenia and the Yugoslav People’s Army lasted only 10 days, but the brutal wars fought in Croatia and BiH (begun in 1991 and 1992 respectively) dragged on until 1995. Fighting in Kosovo lasted from 1998 to 1999.
The conflicts included widespread attacks against civilians, population expulsions, systematic rape and the use of concentration camps. Most of the massacres occurred in BiH, Croatia and Kosovo. About 140,000 people were killed in the region during the conflicts, and almost 4 million others were displaced."
Source: ICTJ (The International Center for Transitional Justice)
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre, the Operation Storm, and the signing of the Dayton peace agreement. Sarajevo Film Festival has created a special program for its 21st edition to reflect on the atrocities of the Balkan wars in the 1990s and pay tribute to the victims.
SARAJEVO FILM FESTIVAL PARTNER PRESENTS
Doha Film Institute
“Doha Film Institute is an independent, not-for-profit cultural organisation established in 2010. It supports the growth of the local film community by enhancing knowledge, cultivating film appreciation and contributing to the development of sustainable creative industries in Qatar. The Institute’s platforms include funding and production of local, regional and international films, educational programmes, film screenings, the Ajyal Youth Film Festival and Qumra. With culture, community, education and entertainment at its foundation, the Institute is committed to supporting Qatar’s 2030 vision for the development of a knowledge-based economy.”
SARAJEVO FILM FESTIVAL GUESTS PRESENT
Morelia Film Festival
The Morelia International Film Festival (FICM) is delighted to strengthen and develop its partnership with the Sarajevo Film Festival in 2015.
In 2014 Mexico was the guest country at the festival’s 20th edition, which included a program of some of the best of Mexican cinema from recent years, including Alonso Ruizpalacios’ Güeros (2014), José Luis Valle’s Workers (2013), Diego Quemada-Diez’s La jaula de oro (2013), Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Amores perros (2000), and a selection of short films from the 11th edition of FICM. The festival also welcomed Gael Garcia Bernal as its honorary guest and recipient of the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo Award.
This year, the festivals will participate in an exchange; an award-winning film from the Sarajevo Film Festival will be screened at the 12th edition of FICM in October; while audiences in Sarajevo will have the opportunity to enjoy Rigoberto Pérezcano’s Carmin Tropical, winner of the Best Feature Film Award in Morelia last year.
Film Factory
The film.factory programme was created by Bela Tarr and officially began its work in February 2013 within the Sarajevo Sarajevo School of Science and Technology.
INDUSTRY
The business of film is the focus of the second half of the Sarajevo Film Festival and putting the Southeast Europe’s film industry in the international focus is what its all about. This is when, for over a decade now, the international film industry hits the town for four days of meetings, conferences, showcases and extensive networking.
CineLink Co-Production Market presents the most promising regional feature projects in development and financing stages. The selection has traditionally been focused on Southeast Europe but is since a few years also open for projects from the Caucasus region. In addition, guest projects are presented in partnership with the Doha Film Institute and The Arab Fund for Arts & Culture.
CineLink Work in Progress continuously showcases future success stories on the festival circuit. Limited number of brand new exciting titles in post-production stage is shown to specifically invited international decision-makers. This section is also open to projects from Central Asia and the North African and Middle Eastern countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea.
At the Docu Rough Cut Boutique, 5 thrilling documentary projects are provided with high-quality training in a safe environment, bespoke meetings with top professionals and presentations to key decision makers from the documentary film arena.
Our industry focused programmes offer award funds totalling more than 150.000 Euros in cash and services and boosts an impressive track record with previous projects going on to major international recognition - If I Want to Whistle I Whistle by Florin Serban (Jury Grand Prix Silver Bear and Alfred Bauer Prize, Berlinale 2010), Sofia’s Last Ambulance by Ilian Metev (France 4 Visionary Award, Critics Week, Cannes Film Festival, 2012), Mold by Ali Aydın (Lion of the Future, Venice 2012), Harmony Lessons by Emir Baigazin (Silver Bear, Berlinale 2013), White Shadow by Noaz Deshe (Lion of the Future, Venice 2013), The Lamb by Kutluğ Ataman (CICAE Art Cinema Award, Berlin Panorama 2014), Son of Saul by Laszlo Nemes (Grand Prix, Cannes Film Festival 2015) just to name a few more recent films.
Industry Terrace and Avant-premiers Trailers events bring together regional distributors and exhibitors with international sales agents, as well as producers with service offering business, while Minimarket’s activities focus on business with the short films presented at the festival.
Regional Forum is the major annual conference for the film industry in the region, tackling the key issues and setting up future policy trends. This year it hosts two distinct conferences: “Women in today’s European film industry: gender matters. Can we do better?” a high level conference organised in the framework of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s chairmanship of the Council of Europe and the “European Film Forum” a touring conference initiated by the European Commission to be held across 2015 in Berlin, Cannes, Sarajevo, Venice, Talin and London film festivals.
CineLink Partner Country
This year we're happy to welcome Poland as our Partner Country, an event coinciding with the 10th anniversary of the Polish Film Institute.
A delegation of around 15 Polish producers and distributors will be present at CineLink, where they during four intensive days will be meeting their Southeast European counterparts.
There will also be a special presentation of the Polish film industry, and Robert Balinski, co-production expert at the Polish Film Institute, will be speaking about co-producing in the digital world at the Regional Forum.
Izabela Kiszka-Hoflik, Head of International Relations, Polish Film Institute:
"The Polish film landscape has significantly changed through the last ten years: we produce more, we participate as a co-producer more often and the number of the cinema admissions is higher then ever. And we believe we have much to offer not only to western Europe but also to the Balkan countries whose artistic strength we admire. I’m proud to present our delegation to the international industry in Sarajevo and very much looking forward to our future collaboration."
Amra Baksic Camo, Head of CineLink:
"It's a pleasure to be able to invite the Polish delegation to discover what our region has to offer in terms of talent, creativity and co-production experience. We might be based in different parts of Europe, but we operate in the same industry and a more and more borderless digital film world. We look forward to discussing our shared challenges, as well as to exploring the shared opportunities that we know are out there. Our hope is to help lay the foundation for long-term collaborations, and we really look forward to seeing what the next few years will bring."
The CineLink Partner Country Initiative has been running for more than a decade now, systematically strengthening the working relationship between the Southeast European film industry and its international counterparts.
Previous partner countries: UK (2014), Germany (2013), France (2012), Switzerland (2011), Israel (2010), Sweden (2009), Ireland (2008), Cine Regio (2007), The Netherlands (2006), Germany (2005), Austria (2004).
CineLink Co-Production Market proudly presents the 2015 projects
A BALLAD
Director: Aida Begić
Producer: Adis Đapo
Production company: Film House Sarajevo
Bosnia and Herzegovina
A COAT OF GOLD
Director: Cristina Grosan
Producer: Dora Nedeczky
Production company: Mindwax ltd
Hungary, Romania
CROWS
Director: Erol Mintas
Producer: Erol Mintas
Production company: Mintas films
Turkey
HAMARAT APARTMENT
Director: Huseyin Karabey
Producer: Su Baloglu
Production company: ASI film
Turkey
IGUANA TOKYO
Director: Kaan Mujdeci
Producer: Nazli Kilerci
Production company: Coloured giraffes
Turkey
IN THE STRANGE PURSUIT OF LAURA DURAND
Director: Dimitris Bavellas
Producers: Lina Yannopoulou, Nikos Moutselos
Production company: VOX productions
Greece
LANKARAN
Director: Elvin Adigozel
Producer: Gillaume de Saille
Production company: Arizona productions
Azerbeijan, France
LIFE BEGINS (aka FREESTYLE)
Director: Sergej Stanojkovski
Writer: Ognjen Sviličić
Producer: Sergej Stanojkovski, Marcelo Busse, Tomi Salkovski
Production company: Avvantura d.o.o.
Croatia, Germany, Macedonia
MANJI
Director: Tinatin Kajrishvili
Producer: Lasha Khalvashi
Production company: Gemini
Georgia
NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT
Director: Dimitar Banov
Producer: Marek Novak
Production company: Xova film, s.r.o.
Macedonia, Czech Republic
OTAR’S DEATH
Director: Ioseb Bliadze
Producer: Eva Blondiau
Production company: Color of may, Imanov&Blondiau Filmproduktion GbR
Georgia, Germany
SOLDIERS
Director: Ivana Mladenovic
Producer: Ada Solomon
Production company: Hi film
Romania
THE SON
Director: Ines Tanović
Producer: Alem Babić
Production company: Dokument
Bosnia and Herzegovina
THE PROFESSOR
Director: Radu Dragomir
Producer: Marcian Lazar
Production company: Strada film
Romania
GUEST PROJECTS
HONEYMOON FLIGHT
Director: Rezo Gigineishili
Writer: Rezo Gigineishvili, Lasha Bugadze
Producer: Mikhael Fenogenov, Rezo Gigineishvili, Natalia Bilan, Tamara Tatishvili
Production company: 20 Steps Production
Country: Georgia, Russia
PARIJAT
Director: Hend Fakhroo
Writer: Caroline Palla
Producer: Hend Fakhroo
Production company: Certifiable productions
Qatar
THE TASTE OF APPLES IS RED
Director: Ehab Tarabieh
Producer: Sol Goodman, Jonathan Doweck
Production company: Railroad movies
Syria, United States of America, Palestine, Qatar
Talents Sarajevo
This year’s 9th edition of Talents Sarajevo, launched in collaboration with Berlinale Talents, will be held under the theme: Wonder Matters
The 9th Talents Sarajevo took place from August 15-20, 2015.
71 emerging actors, directors, film critics, producers, scriptwriters and cinematographers took part in the diverse programme of lectures, workshops, presentations, discussions along the lines of the theme.
Minimarket
As for shorts, Minimarket was continue to enhance their circulation internationally and bring filmmakers together with prominent European short film festival programmers and professionals active in sales and distribution of short films.
OTHER PROGRAMMES
IN FOCUS
Seven regional films that achieved notable success at film festivals worldwide in the past year were shown as part of the In Focus programme.
TRIBUTE TO…
The Sarajevo Film Festival was pleased to present a retrospective of work by one of the most significant contemporary directors, Brillante Mendoza i Atom Egoyan, as part of the Tribute to… programme.
KINOSCOPE
Kinoscope comprises feature and documentary films and the selection included 19 works from all over the world. The programme focuses on exceptional films that stand out because of their mise-en-scène and includes already established filmmakers as well as first and second time filmmakers.
OPEN AIR
This year, the Open Air cinema offered a first-class programme to the satisfaction of even the most demanding film fans. Each night, approximately 3000 viewers could enjoy the unforgettable experience of watching a film under the stars on one of the biggest screens in the region.
CHILDREN’S PROGRAMME
Thirteen feature and animated films were screened as part of the Sarajevo Film Festival’s Children’s Programme.
TEENARENA
For the tenht consecutive year, the Sarajevo Film Festival’s TeenArena programme showcased films intended for teenagers. The public had the opportunity to enjoy eleven films.
SFF PARTNER PRESENTS (DOHA FILM INSTITUTE)
Doha Film Institute (DFI) is an independent, not-for-profit cultural organisation established in 2010. It organically supports the growth of the local film community by enhancing industry knowledge, cultivating film appreciation and contributing to the development of sustainable creative industries in Qatar.
DFI’s platforms include funding and production of local, regional and international films, educational programmes, film screenings, the Ajyal Film Festival for the Young and the Qumra Film Festival.
With culture, community, education and entertainment at its foundation, DFI serves as an all-encompassing film hub in Doha, as well as a resource for the region and the rest of the world.
DFI is committed to supporting Qatar’s 2030 vision for the development of a knowledge-based economy.
SFF GUESTS PRESENTS
In the scope of this programme we presented 5 films.
OPERATION KINO
Eleven films were screened as part of Operation Kino.
LAŠKO SUMMER NIGHTS
Eight films were screened in the Laško Summer Nights programme.
SHORTS
In the scope of the Shorts programme we presented 47 films.
BH FILM
The BH Film Program is organized in cooperation with the Association of Filmmakers of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It presents Bosnian-Herzegovinian filmmakers and their films completed in the past twelve months. This year BH Film programme presented 61 films.