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24th 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, documentary and student 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 eight days of the 24th Sarajevo Film Festival, numerous eminent filmmakers presented their work to the audience including President of the Jury of the Competition Programme - Feature Film Asghar Farhadi, director Pawel Pawlikowski and Honorary Heart of Sarajevo Award Recipients Nuri Bilge Ceylan.
 
24TH SARAJEVO FILM FESTIVAL IN NUMBERS:

266 films from 56 countries
18 programmes
700 employees
300 volunteers
more than 2.600 guests
more than 700 media representatives from 30 countries
more than 100.000 visitors

OFFICIAL AWARDS

COMPETITION PROGRAMME – FEATURE FILM
 
President of the Jury:
Asghar Farhadi (Director, Writer, Iran) 
 
Members of the Jury:
Judita Franković Brdar (Actress, Croatia)  
Mike Goodridge (Artistic Director of International Film Festival & Awards Macao, UK)
Brigitte Lacombe (Photographer, France)  
Ana Urushadze (Writer, Director, Georgia)  
 
HEART OF SARAJEVO FOR BEST FEATURE FILM
Bulgaria, Germany, France
Director: Milko Lazarov
Producers: Veselka Kiryakova, Eike Goreczka, Christoph Kukula, Guillaume de Seille
Financial Award, in the amount of 16.000 €.
 
HEART OF SARAJEVO FOR BEST DIRECTOR
Ioana Uricaru/ LEMONADE
Romania, Canada, Germany, Sweden
Financial Award, in the amount of 10,000 €, is provided by Agnes B.
 
HEART OF SARAJEVO FOR BEST ACTRESS
Zsófia Szamosi, ONE DAY/ EGY NAP
Financial Award, in the amount of 2.500 €, sponsored by Tondach.
 
HEART OF SARAJEVO FOR BEST ACTOR
Leon Lučev, THE LOAD/ TERET
Financial Award, in the amount of 2.500 €, sponsored by Tondach.
 
COMPETITION PROGRAMME – SHORT FILM

Jury:
Konstantina Kotzamani (Writer, Director, Greece) 
Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović (Writer, Director, Croatia)  
Ena Sendijarević (Filmmaker, Netherlands, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
 
HEART OF SARAJEVO FOR BEST SHORT FILM
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Director: Ermin Bravo 
Financial Award, in the amount of 2.500 €, sponsored by Podravka.
 
SPECIAL JURY MENTION
USA, Greece
Director: Eirini Vianelli
 
COMPETITION PROGRAMME – STUDENT FILM
 
Jury:
Richard Kwietniowski (Senior Lecturer at London Film School, UK) 
Andrea Rudert (Head of Project Management FILMFEST MUNICH, Programmer FILMSCHOOLFEST MUNICH, Germany)
Neven Samardžić (Director, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
 
HEART OF SARAJEVO FOR BEST STUDENT FILM
Hungary
Director: Hajni Kis
Financial Award, in the amount of 1,000 €, sponsored by Regional Cooperation Council.
 
COMPETITION PROGRAMME – DOCUMENTARY FILM
 
Jury:
Leena Pasanen (Festival Director of DOK Leipzig, Germany) 
Luciano Rigolini (Artist-photographer, producer, Switzerland)
Marina Gumzi (Producer/ Scriptwriter, Slovenia) 
 
HEART OF SARAJEVO FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM
Director: Nebojša Slijepčević 
Croatia 
Financial award, in the amount of 3,000 €, sponsored by Government of Switzerland.
 
SPECIAL JURY PRIZE
Director: László Csuja 
Hungary, Qatar
Financial award in the amount of 2,500 €.
 
HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD
Turkey, Greece, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Director: Didem Pekün 
Best film of the Competition Programme – Documentary Film dealing with the subject of human rights. Award in the amount of 3,000 €, sponsored by 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

CINELINK CO-PRODUCTION MARKET AWARDS
  
CineLink Co-Production Market Jury:
Annamaria Lodato, Behrooz Hashemian, Boban Jevtić, Čedomir Kolar, Danijel Hočevar, Georges Goldenstern, Sehad Čekić
 
EURIMAGES COPRODUCTION DEVELOPMENT AWARD
SAFE PLACE 
Director: Juraj Lerotić
Producer: Boris T. Matić
Production company: Propeler Film
Co-production company: STARAGARA
Croatia, Slovenia
 
ARTE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS CINELINK AWARD
MAY LABOUR DAY 
Director: Pjer Žalica
Producer: Pjer Žalica, Aida Huseinović
Production company: FORUM Association for Art and Culture
Co-production: Propeler Film, A.S.A.P. Films, Staragara, Bascelik, Artikulacija Film
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, France, Slovenia, Serbia, Montenegro
 
FILM CENTER MONTENEGRO CINELINK AWARD 
A CUP OF COFFEE AND NEW SHOES ON 
Director: Gentian Koçi
Producer: Gentian Koçi, Blerina Hankollari
Production company: ARTALB FILM
Co-production company: Graal Films
Albania, Greece
 
EAVE SCHOLARSHIP
FIUME O MORTE! 
Director: Igor Bezinović
Producer: Tibor Keser, Vanja Jambrović, Fabrizio Polpettini
Production company: Restart
Co-production company: La Bête, NOSOROGI
Croatia, France, Slovenia
 
WORK IN PROGRESS AWARDS

Work In Progress Jury:
Gabor Greiner, Kim Yutani, Marco Mueller, Serkan Yildirim, Tolke Palm
 
TRT AWARD 
ZAVERA 
Director: Andrei Gruzsniczki
Producer: Alexandru Teodorescu
Production company: Saga Film
Romania
 
POST REPUBLIC AWARD 
AFRICA 
Director: Oren Gerner
Producer: Itay Akirav
Production company: Film Harbour
Israel
 
CINELINK IRIDIUM AWARD
IBRAHIM 
Director: Lina Alabed
Producer: Rami El Nihawi
Production company: SakaDo
Co-produced by: Kirstine Barfod Film 
Palestine, Lebanon, Qatar, Denmark
 
CINELINK DRAMA AWARD
CineLink Drama Award Jury:
Ana Balentović, Dalibor Matanić, Paula McHarg 
 
FILM CENTER SERBIA CINELINK DRAMA AWARD
GREATER THAN THE DEATH 
Creator: Arya Su Altıoklar, Samim Türkmen
Director: Erhan Yürük, Boran Güney
Writer: Avni Tuna Dilligil 
Producer: Metin Alihan Yalçındağ, Mehmet Altıoklar, Yaman Birman
Production company: KısaKes Production
Turkey 

PARTNER'S AWARDS

AWARDS OF ASSOCIATION OF BOSNIAN FILMMAKERS

Ivica Matić Award
Alen Drljević (MEN DON’T CRY)
 
Ivica Matić Award 
Damir Ibrahimović (MEN DON’T CRY)
 
Ivica Matić Award
The award for overall contribution to Bosnian and Herzegovinian film (for artists and associates) The board members awards Dragan Ressner and Nidžara Mehić
 
CINEUROPA NAGRADA 
Director: Florin Șerban
 
CICAE NAGRADA
Director: Florin Șerban
 
SARAJEVO SHORT FILM NOMINEE FOR EUROPAN FILM AWARDS 2018
Director: Mahdi Fleifel
 
BEST PACK & PITCH AWARD (TALENTS SARAJEVO PACK & PITCH)
 
THE LAND WITHIN ME 
Director: Fisnik Maxhuni
 
REMEMBER
Director: Thanos Psichogios
 
MIDPOINT AWARDS
 
Milan Stojanovic (TURBO)
 
Art Department Masterclass Award
TRANSIT
 
HBO Europe Award
SLEEPOVER
 
BH FILM STUDENT PROGRAMME AWARD
 
Best B&H Student Film Award
Director: Irfan Avdić
 
Special Jury Award 
Director: Kouros Alaghband
 
Special Mention
Director: Sara Ristić 
 
KISAKES SHORT FILM AWARD
Director: Irfan Avdić
 
Submissions for the Heart of Sarajevo Awards for TV series are open
Film / Drama Series Submissions for the 30th Sarajevo Film Festival Programmes
Talents Sarajevo Call for Entries 2024
Cinema-goers in Bosnia and Herzegovina went to the cinemas more than in previous years - 1.3 million viewers in BiH cinemas in 2023
CineLink Drama Opens Call for Entries