A New Sarajevo Film Festival Award: Prix Cineplexx

At its 32nd edition, the Sarajevo Film Festival will present a new award for the first time: the Prix Cineplexx, established in partnership with Cineplexx, the leading cinema chain in Southeast Europe. Conceived to further strengthen the link between festival recognition and a film’s theatrical life, the award underscores a shared commitment to supporting films beyond the festival circuit and into cinemas.

 

The Prix Cineplexx is awarded to the best film in the Open Air Premiere programme, as chosen by the Festival audience. The prize has a total value of 20,000 euros, comprising 15,000 euros in services for a marketing campaign in Cineplexx cinemas to support the winning film’s theatrical distribution, and 5,000 euros in cash, presented to the film’s producer.

 

One of the Festival’s most attended programmes, Open Air was divided last year into two sections: Open Air and Open Air Premiere. Open Air Premiere showcases the region’s most eagerly awaited new works from across the former Yugoslavia, presented at the UNIQA Open Air Cinema Stari Grad, an exclusive venue whose technical capacities were significantly enhanced last year, with seating capacity doubled.

 

As the leading cinema chain in Southeast Europe, Cineplexx is a natural partner for an award that honours the audience’s choice while supporting the theatrical life of regional films beyond the Festival. Through this partnership, the Sarajevo Film Festival and Cineplexx reaffirm a shared commitment to bringing outstanding regional cinema to the widest possible audience.

 

“This award represents far more than its monetary value. In addition to audience recognition, the winning film receives substantial marketing support for its theatrical release through one of the region’s largest cinema chains. This brings added value to the Open Air Premiere programme and provides regional films with tangible support beyond the Festival itself,” said Jovan Marjanović, Director of the Sarajevo Film Festival.

 

“Cineplexx is the leading cinema group in Southeast Europe. For many years, we have proudly supported the Sarajevo Film Festival, one of the region’s most outstanding cultural events and a film festival of major artistic, industry, and political significance. Our cinemas are dedicated to serving audiences through state-of-the-art infrastructure and diverse film programming. It therefore feels only natural for us to sponsor an award decided by the Festival’s audience and dedicated to regional films. We are already looking forward to celebrating the very first winner of the Prix Cineplexx,” said Christof Papousek, CFO and co-owner of Cineplexx Group, and recipient of the 2024 Heart of Sarajevo.

 

Cineplexx is an Austrian cinema group with more than seven decades of experience in the cinema industry, with strong local teams and experts employed in the capital cities of Southeast Europe. The Cineplexx network today comprises around 70 cinemas in Austria, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Albania, Kosovo*, Greece, Romania, and Italy, with more than 500 screens.