News
In the Avant Premiere Series programme, seven series from the region
The Sarajevo Film Festival's Avant Premiere Series programme focuses on top-quality drama series from the region, which will only hit television screens in the upcoming fall/winter season.
„In the eighth edition of the Avant Premiere Series, we are presenting seven series from the former Yugoslav region. The series in this year's programme are the result of a mature regional series market: they are characterized by high production values, original creative expressions, and authentic stories that stem from a specific cultural heritage. We are excited to have a rich selection of series that includes a Canneseries winner, acclaimed authors returning to our program, and new genres. Get ready for Avant Premieres of intriguing and humorous stories!“, said Tina Hajon, the selector of the Avant Premiere Series programme.
Festival audiences will have the exclusive opportunity to preview episodes of seven highly anticipated drama series and, with their Festival ticket, attend Press Corners at the Festival Square, where they will have the chance to meet the outstanding actors and teams from all the series and get to know them better through live discussions.
The Avant Premiere Series programme of the 30th Sarajevo Film Festival includes the series „White Trail“ by creator Emir Imamović Pirke, „Komar“ by Timur Makarević, „The Hollow“ by Danis Tanović and Amra Bakšić Čamo, „Nobelist“ by Tihomir Stanić, Vladimir Roganović, and Ivan Velisavljević, „Smashing it“ by Dušan Vranić, Elma Tataragić, Enes Zlatar, and Amra Bakšić Čamo, „The Tender“ by Srđan Vuletić, while the gala screening will feature „Operation Sabre“ by Vladimir Tagić and Goran Stanković.
The drama series presented in the Pre-Premiere Series program are competing for the UniCredit Audience Award.
Introducing the Avant Premiere Series Programme:
KOMAR
Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2024, 53 min.
Creator: Timur Makarević
Director: Timur Makarević, Vedran Rupić, Una Gunjak
Cast: Lejla Hakalović, Pia Vrdoljak, Igor Skvarica, Nikola Pejaković, Lamija Salihović, Anastasija Dunjić, Issa Osmić, Uma Mujezinović, Arman Salihović, Feđa Štukan, Izudin Bajrović, Saša Oručević, Faketa Salihbegović Avdagić, Dino Bajrović, Nedim Šuvalija, Kerim Čutuna, Haris Bidžan, Ena Husić, Harun Ćehović, Dino Sarija
Mersiha works as a journalist and she is the pride of her family. When her parents discover that she had kept them in dark about her relationship with Miki, they want to meet him as soon as possible and send him a dinner invitation. Miki travels to Jajce to visit his mother when his bus mysteriously vanishes at the Komar Mountain. The search for the bus is slow and unsuccessful until a phone call triggers a major police operation. Travelers wake up in the bus and find it parked in the middle of a meadow surrounded by forest, they cannot catch mobile signal and there is no traffic on the nearby road. Mershiha and her best friend, Jasna, travel to Komar hoping to learn more about the disappearance of the bus and find Miki in time for dinner with Mersiha’s parents.
NOBELIST / NOBELOVAC
Serbia, 2024, 100 min.
Creators: Tihomir Stanić, Vladimir Roganović, Ivan Velisavljević
Director: Tihomir Stanić, Borisa Simović
Cast: Tihomir Stanić, Selma Alispahić, Igor Jurinić, Vladan Gajović, Branka Šelić, Branka Petrić, Petar Novaković, Milivoje Obradović, Bojan Žirović, Bojana Zečević
The drama series NOBELIST follows a few months in the life of novelist Ivo Andric in the summer and fall of 1961, from the moment he learns he has been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature to his return from the award ceremony to Belgrade, via Switzerland. Over the course of eight episodes, the series reveals and follows the most important, whether famous or lesser known, paths walked by Andric, the people who surrounded him, and the places he stayed.
SMASHING IT / PRINC IZ ELEJA
Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2024, 60 min.
Creators: Dušan Vranić, Elma Tataragić, Enes Zlatar, Amra Bakšić Čamo
Director: Alen Šimić
Cast: Alen Muratović, Nadine Mičić, Mediha Musliović, Mirvad Kurić, Moamer Kasumović, Džana Pinjo, Mario Drmać, Emir Zumbul Kapetanović, Slaven Vidak, Sabit Sejdinović, Edin Avdagić
Miki and Kate return to Sarajevo. Kate has recorded a hit song and is now a star in Kalesija, overshadowing Miki. Miki has “discovered” Internet and sees it as his future. He is still a rocker, but his focus has shifted to the electronic music. Besotted Aunty stays in Kalesija, but she quickly tires of love, so she too returns to Sarajevo. Miki launches his podcast with the same crew of people, evolving around Huba the Cow Head, who used to (not) work for his TV channel. Many famous musicians, artists, celebrities and even aliens make guest appearances over the course of the 12 new episodes, alongside some of the old friends such as cousin Berin, Sudo, Fadil and the robot Mikica who claims to be Miki’s daughter. The second season continues telling the story of Miki’s infectious optimism and belief in success.
THE HOLLOW / KOTLINA
Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2024, 48 min.
Creators: Danis Tanović, Amra Bakšić Čamo
Director: Danis Tanović
Cast: Feđa Štukan, Boris Ler, Mario Knezović, Snežana Vidović, Anita Kajasa, Tarik Filipović, Leona Paraminski, Alen Muratović, Goran Navojec, Helena Vuković, Ida Keškić, Faruk Hajdarević, Katarina Kaća Dorić, Faketa Salihbegović Avdagić, Lamija Salihović
In the Historic Museum, alongside a monument to Josip Broz Tito, the body of a Zenica miner has been found. Everything points to suicide. Inspector Mido Zec decides to look into the details of the case which takes him to Zenica, his hometown. Police in Zenica are not troubled by him, but chief inspector Vera is. Chief inspector Edib Pašić prepares to receive a commendation for solving the Haggadah Case, but the ceremony is interrupted by a bomb threat. Edib’s former wife, Tanja, arrives in Sarajevo and gathers her old friends for a party. Senči also attends paranoid and fearing revenge by Smiley's people. Edib and Mindo, in Zenica and Sarajevo, confront seemingly simple issues, but end up investigating not just their cases but also their personal choices and lives.
THE TENDER / TENDER
Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2024, 55 min.
Creator: Srđan Vuletić
Director: Neven Samardžić, Alen Šimić, Amra Mehić, Irfan Avdić, Saša Peševski
Cast: Tarik Džinić, Aida Bukva, Branko Janković, Anđela Kusić, Robert Krajinović, Anja Kraljević, Igor Skvarica, Edin Avdagić, Dražen Pavlović, Aneta Grabovac, Nadine Mičić, Sanela Pepeljak
Three political apparatchiks of different ethnic, political and cultural backgrounds are appointed to the Public Procurement Agency to work for their own benefit, but soon fall into a group dynamic characterized by a shortage of social intelligence, absence of love, self-confidence, stinginess, pompousness, jealousy and, more than anything, laziness and incompetence.
WHITE TRAIL / BIJELI PUT
Croatia, 2024, 104 min.
Creator: Emir Imamović Pirke
Director: Tomislav Rukavina
Cast: Franjo Dijak, Nina Violić, Enes Vejzović, Goran Bogdan, Sanja Milardović, Stipe Radoja, Mijo Jurišić
Following a year-long surveillance and evidence-gathering operation, police make a dramatic arrest of Zeljko Matic Zeljc, a former member of an international drug cartel. However, his arrest is preceded by the murder of a police superintended and discovery in Mexico of the body of a woman declared dead by Croatian police 7 years ago. That he had ordered the murder of the woman was among the key charges against Zeljc so police are forced to investigate who was really killed seven years ago, if that murder is related to the murder of the police superintendent and if Matic continued to run his operations from his prison cell.
Gala screening
OPERATION SABRE / SABLJA
Serbia, Bulgaria, 2024, 106 min.
Creators: Vladimir Tagić, Goran Stanković
Director: Goran Stanković, Vladimir Tagić
Cast: Dragan Mićanović, Milica Gojković, Ljubomir Bandović, Lazar Tasić, Feđa Štukan, Zlatko Burić, Jasna Đuričić
OPERATION SABRE is based on true events. It tells the story of a year in Serbia following the 2003 assassination of the country's prime minister outside the government building. The event was a turning point in Serbia's political and social life. After the assassination, the country plunged into chaos prompting the government to declare a state of emergency. While the public knows who killed the prime minister and why, Danica, a young journalist, is investigating the forces behind that tragic event. At the same time, Boris, a police inspector, is slowly discovering the shortcomings of the investigation revealing a chain of corruption leading back to the crimes committed in the 1990s. A young criminal, Uros, is getting increasingly entangled with the criminal clan responsible for the assassination and finds it increasingly difficult to escape their grip.
The 30th Sarajevo Film Festival will take place from 16th to 23rd of August 2024.