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25th Sarajevo Film Festival: 53 films to compete for Heart of Sarajevo awards
A total of 53 films will compete for the Heart of Sarajevo awards at the 25th Sarajevo Film Festival. The Festival’s four competition sections – for feature, documentary, short and student film – will feature 23 world, 4 international, 24 regional and 2 Bosnian-Herzegovinian premieres.
This year, the Sarajevo Film Festival Selection team lead by Creative Director Izeta Građević has seen 950 films submitted for the Festival, including 150 feature fiction films, 180 documentary, 420 short and 200 student titles.
Elma Tataragić, selector of the Competition Programme – Feature Film picked nine titles. The selection features four world premieres, one international premier and four regional premieres.
Rada Šešić, selector of the Competition Programme – Documentary Film picked 16 titles. The selection features eight world premieres, one international premier, five regional premieres and two Bosnian-Herzegovinian premieres.
Fourteen titles selected by Elma Tataragić will be screened in the Competition Programme – Short Film. The selection features five world and nine regional premieres.
Asja Krsmanović, selector of the Competition Programme – Student Film picked 14 titles. The selection features five world premieres, two international and seven regional premieres.
Established in 2003, the main Competition Programme of the Sarajevo Film Festival annually attracts over 300 directors, screenwriters, producers, actors and actresses, and other film professionals. Over the years, it became the most important showcase of South European cinema and a meeting place for film professionals and filmgoers with a penchant for national cinema of the countries represented in its four distinct sections.
In the past 16 years, 678 films were screened in the Competition Programme of the Sarajevo Film Festival, including 166 features, 297 documentary, 180 short and 34 student films. The programme welcomed thousands of regional filmmakers and became the ultimate place for promotion of their films and film projects. Along with the Festival’s In Focus and Avantpremieres sections, as well as its Talents Sarajevo, CineLink Industry Days and BH Film segments, the Competition Programme is the biggest and most important showcase for regional film and a platform for promotion and development of regional cinema.
This year, when Sarajevo Film Festival celebrates its 25th birthday, its Competition Programme is the premiere place for discovery of new and promotion of already established regional film talents.
The programme is open for films and filmmakers from Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbejan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Georgia, Hungary, Kosovo*, North Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey.
25th Sarajevo Film Festival will be held from August 16 to 23 under the patronage of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
COMPETITION PROGRAMME – FEATURE FILM 2019
HEART OF SARAJEVO FOR BEST FEATURE FILM
Award in the amount of 16,000 €, co-sponsored by Tourism Association of Canton Sarajevo
HEART OF SARAJEVO FOR BEST DIRECTOR
Award in the amount of 10,000 €, sponsored by Agnes B.
HEART OF SARAJEVO FOR BEST ACTRESS
Award in the amount of 2,500 €, sponsored by Tondach
HEART OF SARAJEVO FOR BEST ACTOR
Award in the amount of 2,500 €, sponsored by Tondach
1. A TALE OF THREE SISTERS / KIZ KARDEŞLER, Emin Alper (Turkey, Germany, Netherlands, Greece, 2019, 108 min.) – Regional premiere
2. AND THEN WE DANCED, Levan Akin (Georgia, Sweden, France, 2019, 105 min.) - Regional premiere
3. CAT IN THE WALL / KOTKA V STENATA, Mina Mileva, Vesela Kazakova (Bulgaria, United Kingdom, France, 2019, 92 min.) – Regional premiere
4. HEIDI, Cătălin Mitulescu (Romania, 2019, 96 min.) – World premiere
5. MO, Radu Dragomir (Romania, 2019, 77 min.) – International premiere
6. OPEN DOOR / DERË E HAPUR, Florenc Papas (Albania, Italy, Kosovo, Macedonia, 2019, 78 min.) – World premiere
7. ROUNDS / V KRAG, Stephan Komandarev (Bulgaria, Serbia, 2019, 106 min.) – World premiere
8. THE SON / SIN, Ines Tanović (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Romania, Slovenia, Montenegro, 2019, 106 min.) – World premiere
9. TAKE ME SOMEWHERE NICE, Ena Sendijarević (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Netherlands, 2018, 91 min.) – Regional premiere
COMPETITION PROGRAMME – DOCUMENTARY FILM 2019
HEART OF SARAJEVO FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM
Award in the amount of 3,000 €, sponsored by Government of Switzerland
HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD
Award in the amount of 3,000 €, sponsored by Kingdom of the Netherlands
SPECIAL JURY PRIZE
Award in the amount of 2,500 €
1. A SMALL DOCUMENTARY ABOUT 3 LETTERS / MALI DOKUMENTARNI FILM O 3 PISMA, Goran Bregović (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, France, 2019, 30 min.) – World premiere
2. DAUGHTER OF CAMORRA / FIGLIA DI CAMORRA, Siniša Gačić (Slovenia, Italy, 2019, 80 min.) – World premiere
3. HONEYLAND / МЕДЕНА ЗЕМЈА, Ljubomir Stefanov, Tamara Kotevska (North Macedonia, 2019, 85 min.) – Bosnian premiere
4. HOW FAR THE STARS / CSILLAGFÉNY TÁVOLSÁG, Katalin Barsony (Hungary, USA, 2019, 68 min.) – World premiere
5. IF ONLY DREAMS CAME TRUE / DA JE MENI ONO ŠTO MI NIJE, Višnja Skorin (Croatia, 2019, 55 min.) – World premiere
6. IN BETWEEN / NË MES, Samir Karahoda (Kosovo, 2019, 13 min.) – Bosnian premiere
7. PALACE FOR THE PEOPLE / DVORCITE NA NARODA, Boris Missirkov, Georgi Bogdanov (Bulgaria, Romania, Germany, 2018, 79 min.) – Regional premiere
8. QUEEN LEAR / KRALİÇE LEAR, Pelin Esmer (Turkey, 2019, 84 min.) – World premiere
9. STACK OF MATERIAL / GOMILA MATERIJALA, Sajra Subašić (Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2018, 7 min.) – World premiere
10. THE EUPHORIA OF BEING / A LÉTEZÉS EUFÓRIÁJA, Réka Szabó (Hungary, 2019, 83 min.) – Regional premiere
11. THE GOLDEN GIRL / FATA DE AUR, Denisa Morariu-Tamas, Adrian Robe (Romunia, 2019, 95 min.) – World premiere
12. THE SOVIET GARDEN / GRĂDINA SOVIETICĂ, Dragoș Turea (Moldova, Romania, 2019, 76 min.) – World premiere
13. THEN COMES THE EVENING / A SAD SE SPUŠTA VEČE, Maja Novaković (Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2019, 28 min.) – Regional premiere
14. YET ANOTHER DEPARTURE / JOŠ JEDAN ODLAZAK, Renata Poljak (Croatia, 2019, 11 min.) – International premiere
15. WHEN THE PERSIMMONS GREW / XURMALAR YETIŞƏN VAXT, Hilal Baydarov (Azerbaijan, Austria, 2019, 118 min.) – Regional premiere
16. WHEN TOMATOES MET WAGNER, Marianna Economou (Greece, 2019, 72 min.) – Regional premiere
COMPETITION PROGRAMME - SHORT FILM 2019
HEART OF SARAJEVO FOR BEST SHORT FILM - Oscar® qualifying
Award in the amount of 2,500 €, sponsored by Podravka
SARAJEVO SHORT FILM NOMINEE FOR THE CANDIDACY FOR THE EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS 2019
1. BLACK SUN / SIYAH GÜNEŞ, Arda Çiltepe (Turkey, Germany, 2019, 20 min.) – Regional premiere
2. MR. MARE / LIDÉRC ÚR, Luca Tóth (Hungary, France, 2019, 19 min.) – Regional premiere
3. NATURAL SELECTION / PRIRODNI ODABIR, Aleta Rajič (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, 2018, 10 min.) – World premiere
4. ONE OF MANY / EDNA, Vuk Mitevski (North Macedonia, Belgium, 2019, 11 min.) – Regional premiere
5. POSTCARDS FROM THE END OF THE WORLD, Konstantinos Antonopoulos (Greece, 2019, 23 min.) – World premiere
6. SALT, PEPPER TO TASTE / DUZ, ISTIOT ZÖVQƏ GÖRƏ, Teymur Hajiyev (Azerbaijan, 2019, 22 min.) – Regional premiere
7. SYMBIOSIS, Nadja Andrasev (Hungary, France, 2019, 13 min.) – World premiere
8. THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US AND THE SKY, Vasilis Kekatos (Greece, France, 2019, 9 min.) – Regional premiere
9. THE LAST IMAGE OF FATHER / POSLEDNJA SLIKA O OCU, Stefan Đorđević (Serbia, Croatia, Greece, 2019, 20 min.) – Regional premiere
10. THE LAST TRIP TO THE SEASIDE / ULTIMUL DRUL SPRE MARE, Adi Voicu (Romania, 2019, 12 min.) – Regional premiere
11. THE PIT / JAMA, Alban Ukaj (Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2019, 11 min.) – World premiere
12. THE VAN, Erenik Beqiri (Albania, France, 2019, 15 min.) – Regional premiere
13. TINA, Dubravka Turić (Croatia, 2019, 14 min.) – Regional premiere
14. 12 K. MARX STREET / MARXIS KUCHA 12, Irine Jordania (Georgia, 2019, 15 min.) – World premiere
COMPETITION PROGRAMME - STUDENT FILM 2019
HEART OF SARAJEVO FOR BEST STUDENT FILM
Award in the amount of 1,000 € sponsored by Regional Cooperation Council.
1. AS UP TO NOW / AHOGY EDDIG, Katalin Moldovai (Hungary, 2018, 24 min.) – Regional premiere
2. BROKEN THINGS, Panni Gyulai (Hungary, 2019, 10 min.) – Regional premiere
3. DAY RELEASE / FREIGANG, Martin Winter (Austria, 2019, 35 min.) – Regional premiere
4. ELEPHANT'S GRAVEYARD / GROBLJE SLONOVA, Filip Mojzeš (Croatia, 2019, 13 min.) – World premiere
5. FAVORITES / FAVORITEN, Martin Monk (Austria, Germany, 2019, 18 min.) – Regional premiere
6. GOD THE MOTHER / DUMNEZEU MAMA, Mihai Ghiță (Romania, 2019, 19 min.) – International premiere
7. HOW TO FLY A KITE? / CUM ÎNALȚI UN ZMEU?, Loránd Gábor (Romania, 2018, 27 min.) – Regional premiere
8. LIFE BETWEEEN THE EXIT SIGNS / ZUFALL & NOTWENDIGKEIT, Nicolas Pindeus (Austria, 2019, 18 min.) – International premiere
9. NIGHT SESSION / GAMIS SEANSI, Petre Tomadze (Georgia, 2019, 4 min.) – Regional premiere
10. SAD GIRL WEEKEND, Dimitris Tsakaleas, Lida Vartzioti (Greece, 2019, 15 min.) – World premiere
11. SHERBET / ŠERBET, Nikola Stojanović (Serbia, 2019, 19 min.) – World premiere
12. SIGH / OF, Vlad Bolgarin (Moldova, 2019, 15 min.) – Regional premiere
13. THE SHIFT / ŠIHTA, Damir Markovina (Croatia, 2019, 16 min.) – World premiere
14. WORLD, ON HOLD / DÜNYA TUTULUYOR, Ömer Deniz (Turkey, 2019, 21 min.) – World premiere