What started on August 13 with Wim Wenders picking up the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo Award and the world premiere of Danis Tanović's new film "Not so friendly Neighbourhood Affair" ended eight days later with Dragan Bjelogrlić's "Toma", which was also shown as a world premiere.
In local movie theaters and an open air area, more than 200 films from 65 countries were shown in various categories (short and feature films as well as documentaries). Thematically everything was represented and the areas beside the main program were delightful as every year. There was an extensive program for children and teenagers and the students of the local film schools were able to demonstrate their acquired knowledge and skills. Of course, the European short film was not neglected either.
In addition to the actual competition, two larger thematic complexes rounded out the program. "Dealing with the Past", which set itself the task of illuminating the still unresolved problems of the Yugoslav conflict and keeping them in dialogue. The theme ran like a thread through all sections and was summarized very clearly in an online publication.
Of greater interest to us is the second section, simply titled "BH Film." The trio of artistic directors of the "Association of Filmmakers in Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina", Elma Tataragić, Melina Alagić and Asja Krsmanović, who were responsible for our festival this year as well as last year, were in charge of selecting the films for this area. We can be curious to see what influence this will have on the selection of films for our festival!
In the end, there were prizes and awards en masse in the Bosnian capital, so here is just a small selection:
The German-Austrian co-production "Great Freedom" received the Heart of Sarajevo for best feature film and with Georg Friedrich as best leading actor. The Serbian film "Celts," set in 90s Belgrade, gave director Milica Tomović her second Heart. All good things come in threes, the trio of "The Hill Where Lionesses Roar" was named the best leading actresses.
For final impressions we refer to the film festival website itself. There you will find photo galleries worth browsing, short interviews in the news section and an overview of all films that were shown at the festival with heart. The latter offers a preview of the films you can look forward to in selected cinemas or online, but is ultimately just one more reason - of many - to attend next years 28th Sarajevo Film Festival in person!
