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Competition Programme – Short Film 2024
In the Competition Programme – Short Film, selected by Elma Tataragić, there are 12 films this year
Four films will have their world premieres, 2 their international premieres, 1 its European premiere, and 5 their regional premieres.
Jury:
Anamaria Antoci, Producer, Romania
Flora Anna Buda, Director, Hungary
Burak Çevik, Director and producer, Türkiye
Awards:
HEART OF SARAJEVO FOR BEST SHORT FILM
Eligible for Oscar® nomination
Award in the amount of €2,500
EUROPEAN FILM ACADEMY SHORT FILM CANDIDATE
1. BONACA, Luka Vlaho (Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2024, 14 min.) – World premiere
Cast: Arijan Štrkljević, Amila Džebo, Lukša Klaić, Anita Trojanović
A young man's typical summer morning row takes a surprising turn when he stumbles upon an unusual sight on the secluded sea inlet.
2. GAIA, Enis Čišić, Nermin Hamzagić (Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2024, 11 min.) – World premiere
Cast: Lidija Kordić, Isak Hamzagić
The year is 2040 and Sarajevo is covered with thick clouds and relentless plastic rain. Sara has a chance to save the city when she feels a connection with the emerging black soil.
3. SEPTEMBER DAWN / RUJNA ZORA, Ivan Đurović (Serbia, USA, 2024, 25 min.) – World premiere
Cast: Darija Vučko, Teodor Vučkovac, Mateja Dimitrijević, Jovan Šakota
A beautiful day, a boat and a river, a boy and a girl. What could possibly go wrong? A young man’s prejudices about women turn a romantic trip into a fight for survival.
4. @TIKTOK_COWBOY, Anastaseu Ștefan (Romania, 2024, 17 min.) – World premiere
Cast: Bondi Gabor, Linda Zsiga, Gabriel Spahiu
It's Year Zero of the pandemic. Zoro, a young Roma father accompanied by his loyal companion, the horse Miguel, embarks on a transformative journey to the city to meet his newborn son for the very first time.
5. ALIVE / ZHYVA, Vladlen Odudenko (Ukraine, 2023, 12 min.) – International premiere
Cast: Milena Kompaniiets, Roman Lutskyi, Andrii Rymaruk
Ukraine, March 2022. The time of the Russian military invasion. Two Ukrainian soldiers are doing the routine work of transporting the bodies of the dead. On this round of hauling body bags into a basement, they notice one of the corpses is alive.
6. ELENE DARIANI, Elene Tavadze (Georgia, 2024, 15 min.) – International premiere
Cast: Ana Khopheria, Irakli Margishvili
Who is Elene Dariani? Is she a mystical creation of the poet Paolo, or a woman who found herself in his shadow? This film is based on a real poetic love story.
7. PLOT REVENGE / ZEMBEREK, Recep Çavdar (Türkiye, Spain, 2023, 20 min.) – European premiere
Cast: Ufuk Bayraktar, Muhammed Diştaş, Muhammed Yildirim, Emin Yalçin, Fulya Ulvan
Ömer, whose father was accidentally killed by his friend Veysi at a wedding, lives in a mountain village with his mother and brother. Upon hearing the news of Veysi’s release from prison, Ömer cannot suppress his desire for revenge.
8. ABSENT / NOKSAN, Cem Demirer (Türkiye, 2024, 23 min.) – Regional premiere
Cast: Haydar Şahin, Şencan Aslan, Barış Yılmaz Gündüz, Aydın Erek, Salih Uysal
Thirty-year-old Mert is employed at an abandoned-looking amusement park. He is grappling with an internal duality, while sensing a lurking identity that is bent on undermining him. He interacts with various people and creatures, struggling to understand what's going wrong with his mental health.
9. ON THE WAY / RRUGËS, Samir Karahoda (Kosovo*, 2024, 15 min.) – Regional premiere
Cast: Ylber Mehmeti, Miron Karahoda
A father and son are on their way to the airport to pick up a gift sent from abroad by the son's godfather. Amid bureaucratic hurdles, with little or no hope for real political and social changes in their country, they find comfort and strength in their shared optimism for the future.
10. SANKI YOXSAN, Azer Guliev (Azerbaijan, France, 2024, 15 min.) – Regional premiere
Cast: Milana Hasanova, Oktay Mehtiyev, Elşan Mammadov
Refusing to accept what has happened between their families, Samir and Leyla decide to run away. The following morning, Samir disappears. Wandering in the midst of an impossible situation, Leyla tries to find Samir, and is absorbed into the unknown fate of her lost lover, becoming an element of this mystery herself.
11. TAKO TSUBO, Eva Pedroza, Fanny Sorgo (Austria, Germany, 2024, 6 min.) – Regional premiere
Mr. Ham decides to have his heart removed in order to be relieved of his complicated feelings. After its removal, however, he keeps the heart for a while, thinking that perhaps he can understand it better after all.
12. THE MAN WHO COULD NOT REMAIN SILENT / ČOVJEK KOJI NIJE MOGAO ŠUTJETI, Nebojša Slijepčević (Croatia, Bulgaria, France, Slovenia, 2024, 14 min.) – out of competition
Cast: Goran Bogdan, Alexis Manenti, Dragan Mićanović, Silvio Mumelaš
Strpci, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 27 February, 1993: A passenger train from Belgrade to Bar is stopped by paramilitary forces in an ethnic cleansing operation. As they haul off innocent civilians, only one man out of five hundred passengers dares stand up to them.
The 30th Sarajevo Film Festival will take place from 16 to 23 August 2024.