Sarajevo Film Festival Selects 19 World Premieres in Competition Sections

The Sarajevo Film Festival, which focuses on films from Southeast Europe, the South Caucasus and Ukraine, has selected 54 films to compete for its Heart of Sarajevo awards. Three films play out of competition. The festival’s 30th edition will run from Aug. 16 to 23.

Jovan Marjanović, director of the festival, said the awards would “amplify voices from the region and bring them closer to the global audience.”

The festival’s four competition sections – for feature, documentary, short and student film – will feature 19 world, nine international, three European, 21 regional and three national premieres.

World premieres include Vuk Ršumović’s “Dwelling Among the Gods,” which plays in the feature film competition program, and Mirjana Karanović’s “Mother Mara,” which is a Gala Screening, playing out of competition.

Marjanović said the program makes the event “once again the place where the broadest audience, as well as film professionals and critics, can gain the most accurate image of film art in Southeast Europe, Ukraine, and the South Caucasus today.”

He added: “These regions are simultaneously in the spotlight and on the margins of global attention, and the festival provides a unique opportunity for a deeper understanding of all nuances of experience from the geopolitical and artistic margins that are often missing in forming a complex picture of the present day.”

Competition Program – Feature Film

“Arcadia,” Yorgos Zois (Greece, Bulgaria, U.S.) – regional premiere
“Dwelling Among the Gods” (Među Bogovima), Vuk Ršumović (Serbia, Italia, Croatia) – world premiere
“The Editorial Office” (Redaktsiya), Roman Bondarchuk (Ukraine, Germany, Slovakia, Czech Rep.) – regional premiere
“Family Therapy” (Odrešitev Za Začetnike), Sonja Prosenc (Slovenia, Italy, Croatia, Norway, Serbia) – European premiere
“Holy Electricity” (Tsminda Elektroenergia), Tato Koteshivili (Georgia, Netherlands) – regional premiere
“Holy Week” (Săptămâna Mare), Andrei Cohn (Romania, Switzerland) – regional premiere
“Three Kilometres to the End of the World” (Trei Kilometri Până La Capătul Lumii), Emanuel Pârvu (Romania) – regional premiere
“The Village Next to Paradise,” Mo Harawe (Austria, France, Germany, Somalia) – regional premiere
“Mother Mara” (Majka Mara), Mirjana Karanović (Serbia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Luxembourg) – Gala Screening, world premiere, out of competition

Competition Program – Documentary Film

“At the Door of the House Who Will Come Knocking” (Ko Će Pokucati Na Vrata Mog Doma), Maja Novaković (Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belgium, 85 mins.) – B&H premiere
“Bekim Fehmiu” Valmir Tertini (Albania, 66 mins.) – B&H premiere, out of competition.
“Alice On & Off,” Isabela Tent (Romania, 86 mins.) – regional premiere
“Cent’anni, Maja Prelog” (Slovenia, Italy, Poland, Serbia, Austria, 87 mins.) – regional premiere
“Dad’s Lullaby” (Tatova Kolyskova), Lesia Diak (Ukraine, Romania, Croatia, 78 mins.) – world premiere
“Fragments of Ice” (Fragmenty Lyodu), Maria Stoianova (Ukraine, Norway, 95 mins.) – regional premiere
“Loxy,” Dimitris Zahos, Thanasis Kafetzis (Greece, 87 mins.) – international premiere
“… Ned, Tassot, Yossot …,” Brigitte Weich (Austria, 99 mins.) – regional premiere
“Our Children” Naša Djeca, Silvestar Kolbas (Croatia, 92 mins.) – international premiere
“Pavilion 6” (Paviljon 6), Goran Dević (Croatia, 69 min.) – regional premiere
“A Picture to Remember” (Foto Na Pam’yat), Olga Chernykh (Ukraine, France, Germany, 72 mins.) – regional premiere
“Praslovan,” Slobodan Maksimović (Slovenia, Croatia, 112 mins.) – world premiere, out of competition
“Your Life Without Me” (Az Életed Nélkülem), Anna Rubi (Hungary, Sweden, 72 mins.) – world premiere

“Biang Biang Express” (Miàn Miàn Jù Dào), Nikola Stojanović (Serbia, China, 10 mins.) – world premiere
“Between Delicate and Violent” (Zarafet Ve Şiddet Arasinda), Şirin Bahar Demirel (Turkey, Netherlands, 15 mins.) – regional premiere
“Heterotopia” (Heterotopija), Nikola Nikolić (Serbia, 7 mins.) – international premiere
“Like a Sick Yellow” (Si E Verdhë E Sëmur), Norika Sefa (Kosovo, 23 mins.) – B&H premiere
“Pain/Bol,” Ivan Faktor (Croatia, 22 mins.) – regional premiere
“Re:Visited Jasenovac,” Admir Rahmanović (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sweden, 12 mins.) – European premiere
“The Seagull” (Galeb), David Lušičić (Croatia, 29 mins.) – international premiere
“What We Ask of a Statue Is That It Doesn’t Move” (Afto Pou Zitame Apo Ena Agalma Ine Na Min Kinite), Daphné Hérétakis (Greece, France, 31 mins.) – international premiere