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Talents Sarajevo Call for Entries 2024

Up-and-coming film creatives are invited to apply for AI-themed edition of Talents Sarajevo by March 8th.

Apply here

The Sarajevo Film Festival invites emerging filmmakers and film critics from Southeast Europe and the Southern Caucasus to submit entries for the eighteenth edition of Talents Sarajevo, titled ART/FICIAL. While Talents Sarajevo is scheduled to take place from August 16 to 23, coinciding with the 30th edition of the Sarajevo Film Festival, some of its programs will commence online before the festival.

Directors, producers, actors, scriptwriters, cinematographers, editors, and film critics hailing from Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Georgia, Hungary, Kosovo*, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Northern Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Turkey, and Ukraine are encouraged to apply.

In just a few years, the term "artificial intelligence" has evolved from a sci-fi concept into an omnipresent element in our daily lives. While it's clear that AI is a far cry from the ominous "humans against machines" scenarios (from HAL 9000 to those pesky Terminators), the catastrophic rhetoric surrounding AI still persists. According to one view, AI is nothing less than the harbinger of the end of creativity as an essential human trait. Consequently, anything produced by AI is deemed a mere parody of true art, inevitably leading towards the destruction of culture and humanity.

ART/FICIAL aims to challenge the apocalyptic narrative surrounding the relationship between AI and cinema. We contend that AI, far from being an artistic nemesis, represents a technological milestone contributing to the redefinition and transformation of cinema, rather than its demise. Similar to past technological advancements, AI will bring about both positive and negative consequences. The crucial first step in addressing these implications is to demystify AI as a tool, emphasizing that its impact depends on the individuals employing it.

While most information about the impact of AI on the film industry comes from Hollywood, ART/FICIAL aims to specifically address the local/regional experience in that regard. To what extent and in what ways is AI present in the film region covered by the Sarajevo Film Festival? ART/FICIAL extends an invitation to emerging film creatives from the region to join Talents Sarajevo in exploring the intersection of AI and cinema, considering their own experiences of working with AI or their decision to abstain from doing so.

Talents Sarajevo, founded in collaboration with Berlin International Film Festival and Berlinale Talents, has become the foremost regional hub for meeting and training aspiring film professionals. It’s mission is to provide unconditional support to up-and-coming filmmakers from the region by facilitating their creative and professional advancement and success through a program of master classes, project labs, lectures, discussions, and screenings.

The closing date for applications is March 8th.

Please find more information and apply HERE. 

Talents Sarajevo is supported by CE Media.

CONTACT

Talents Administration
talents_sarajevo@sff.ba 

* This label does not prejudge the status of Kosovo and is in accordance with Resolution 1244 and the opinion of the ICJ on Kosovo's declaration of independence