The 28th Sarajevo Festival announces its competition selections

– The event, which will be held from August 12 to 19, will present 51 films in its four competition sections, including 21 in world premiere

This article is available in English.

Now reaching its 28th edition, the Sarajevo Film Festival (running 12-19 August) has announced its competition sections, where 51 films will vie for the Heart of Sarajevo awards. The individual competition sections — for feature, documentary, fiction short, and student work — will be composed of 21 world, seven international, one European, 21 regional, and one national premieres.

The feature competition will number eight titles, down from 10 the previous year, and be split evenly between world and regional premieres as well as having a majority of female filmmakers. At Ballad by Aida Begic, the festival’s most notable Bosnian world premiere, is featured in this section, after being developed through the festival’s CineLink Industry Days. The film features a nice meta-element, where an unambitious housewife and mother returns to the town she grew up in, and upon learning a film is being shot in her neighborhood, decides to audition. The Best Feature Film Prize will be an award in the amount of €16,000, co-sponsored by the Tourism Association of Canton Sarajevo.

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The documentary competition has 22 titles, up from 16 the previous year, although eight of them could be classified as shorts, with one of these a new work by the recently Cannes-selected director Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk. There is also a film with a 47-minute runtime, making it a mid-length or featurette: Beauty of the Beast by Anna Eszter Nemes, a Hungary-Serbia co-production. This section’s top feature prize will receive an award of €4,000, sponsored by the Government of Switzerland.

The programming team, led by the festival’s Creative Director Izeta Građevicviewed a total of 751 titles submitted for the festival, with its competitive sections reserved for films from the Balkan and Eastern European region.

Previously announced by the festival were Honorary Heart of Sarajevo awardees Sergei Loznitsa, Paul Schraderand Ruben Ostlundwhose Palme d’Or victor Triangle of Sadness [+lire aussi :
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interview : Ruben Östlund
interview : Ruben Östlund
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will also open the festival.

The full list of competition titles is as follows:

Feature Film Competition

At BalladAida Begic (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Men of DeedsPaul Negoescu (Romania/Bulgaria)
RidersDominik Mencej (Slovenia/Croatia/Serbia/Italy/Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Six WeeksNoemi Veronika Szakonyi (hungary)
Bodice [+lire aussi :
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Marie Kreutzer (Austria/Luxembourg/Germany/France)
Klondike [+lire aussi :
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interview : Maryna Er Gorbach
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Maryna Er Gorbach (Ukraine/Turkey)
Safe PlaceJuraj Lerotic (Croatia)
Serviam – I Will ServeRuth Mader (Austria)

Documentary Film Competition

Diary of a Bride of ChristMarta Smerechynska (Ukraine)
Lights of SarajevoSrđan Perkic (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Liturgy of Anti-Tank Obstacles – Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk (Ukraine/USA)
Paying a Visit to FortunaMatyas Kalman (Hungary/Croatia)
Shadowed by the Plane TreeAynur Elgunesh (Azerbaijan)
TheChalice. Of Sons and DaughtersCatalina Tesar, Dana Bunescu (Romania)
The Film FactorySilvestar Kolbas (Croatia)
Too closeBotond Püsok (Romania/Hungary)
BabajanjaAnte Zlatko Stolica (Croatia)
retreatAnabela Angelovska (North Macedonia/Germany)
Bigger Than Trauma [+lire aussi :
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Vedrana Pribacic (Croatia)
Another Spring [+lire aussi :
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interview : Mladen Kovačević
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Mladen Kovacevic (Serbia/France/Qatar)
At Provincial Hospital [+lire aussi :
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interview : Ilian Metev, Ivan Chertov …
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Ilan Metev, Ivan Chertov, Zlatina Teneva (Bulgaria/Germany)
Atonal GlowAlexander Koridze (Georgia)
Beauty of the BeastAnna Eszter Nemes (Hungary/Serbia)
Fragile MemoryIgor Ivanjko (Ukraine)
living togetherThomas Furhapter (Austria)
MicrobiomeStavros Petropoulos (Greece)
No Place For You in Our Town [+lire aussi :
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Nikolay Stefanov (Bulgaria)
RibsFarah Hasanbegovic (Bosnia and Herzegovina/Hungary/Belgium/Portugal)
Museum of the RevolutionSrđan Keca (Serbia/Croatia/Czech Republic)

Short Film Competition

AfricaAnna Gyimesi (hungary)
It is Quiet Here.Novruz Hikmet, Olena Podolianko (Ukraine)
My Neighbor WolfNebojsa Slijepcevic (Croatia/Serbia)
Together, AloneKasim Ordek (Turkey/France)
Alba VulbaDorka Vermes (hungary)
AmokBalazs Turai (Hungary/Romania)
Money and HappinessAna Nedeljkovic, Nikola Majdak Jr. (Serbia/Slovenia/Slovakia)
On Xerxes’ ThroneEvi Kalogiropoulou (Greece)
That’s How the Summer EndedMatjaz Ivanisin (Slovenia/Hungary/Italy)
5pm SeasideValentin Sejskal (Greece/Austria)

Student Film Competition

It’s Not Cold for MosquitoesJosip Lukic (Croatia)
My NikolaMartina Marasovic (Croatia)
RainbowSandra Maric (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
The Other End of the StreetKalman Nagy (Austria/Hungary)
Water Balloons – Aleksa Borkovic (Serbia)
HollywoodLeni Gruber, Alex Reinberg (Austria)
My friendCarina Dasoveanu (Romania)
My Sister and ITheodor Ioniță (Romania)
CrazeBianka Szelestey (hungary)
Resting FogNikolett Fabian (hungary)
The Analogy of SpaceOleksandr Hoisan (Ukraine)

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The 28th Sarajevo Festival announces its competition selections