The jubilee 30th Sarajevo Film Festival opened with the world premiere of the film "My Late Summer" by Danis Tanović

" This jubilee year marks three decades of our dedication to showing the highest quality films to you, our audience, while at the same time we serve as a key platform for regional cinema development. Unfortunately, the world around us is not better, it is not the way we are imagined that it could be when the festival was created, however our experience over the past 30 years shows that reflection on the most difficult times through dialogue and art is not only important, but also necessary if we want peace to prevail”, said Jovan Marjanović, Director of the Sarajevo Film Festival, adding that the festival's mission from the very beginning was and remains looking to the past to build bridges and create a better future.

“This edition of the Festival brings numerous novelties. We have established new locations that will hopefully become new cultural ones the center of our city, and thus of Bosnia and Herzegovina. All this we are working with the hope that we will soon have in that place contemporary space dedicated to cultural events, and you, our audience, will have the opportunity to in the future you attend the opening of the Festival in such a place", said Marjanović.

The Honorary Heart of Sarajevo, at tonight's opening ceremony, was presented to Palestinian director Elija Suleiman in recognition of his outstanding contribution to film art.

„This is the right moment for me to receive The Heart of Sarajevo, because, as Jovan Marjanović said, we live in difficult times and we must give cinema the importance to make the world less violent. We need to share hearts and love. When I get home I will transplant this heart“, said Elia Suleiman.

In addition to the National Theater, the audience enjoyed the comedy drama "My Late Summer" all over Sarajevo in the Open Air Cinema Coca-Cola, the Open Air Cinema Stari Grad, the Open Air Cinema Centar „Safet Zajko“, the Open Air Cinema and the Cineplexx cinema.

With the world premiere of the film "My Late Summer", in which Anja Matković and Uliks Fehmiu play the main roles, the programme of the Sarajevo Film Festival in Mostar and Tuzla also began. Screenings were held in BH Telecom Open Air Cinema Mostar and Bingo Open Air Cinema Tuzla.

"My Late Summer" is a film story about a young woman who comes to a remote island to solve the issue of family inheritance. In a whirlwind of new emotions, through a series of unforeseen situations, Maja will finally face questions from her past. The search for inheritance becomes a search for one's own identity, but also for forgiveness.

Danis Tanović is a multiple award-winning director, screenwriter and producer. His film "No Man's Land" (2001), for which he also wrote the screenplay, was awarded an Oscar® and a Golden Globe for the best film in a foreign language. He is a two-time winner of the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival for the films "An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker" (2013) and "Death in Sarajevo" (2016).

He received the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo in 2014 as a sign of recognition for his exceptional contribution to film art and for his support of the Sarajevo Film Festival.

"Happy birthday to us! To all of us. Because really if there is one festival in the world that I consider my own, then it is this one. I hope you enjoy the film, and if you enjoy it as much as we did while making it, you will enjoy it very much" said Tanović.

The honor of hosting the opening ceremony of the 30th edition of the Sarajevo Film Festival went to actress Maja Izetbegović.

As a sign of the jubilee, a big party was held on the occasion of the opening of the 30th Sarajevo Film Festival at the new festival location, Festival Garden. Don Julio is a partner of the opening reception of the 30th Sarajevo Film Festival.

At the 30th Sarajevo Film Festival, which will be held until August 23, 247 films will be shown in 18 festival programmes. There are 54 films in competition for the Heart of Sarajevo awards.