The new, 24th edition of the Sarajevo Film Festival (SFF) begins on August 10 and during the seven days it traditionally lasts, the audience will be offered 266 films from 56 countries, according to the final version of the program published this week.
The organizers confirmed that the festival will open with the film “Cold War” by Oscar winner Pawel Pawlikowski, who just received the award for Best Director at this year’s Cannes Film Festival for this work and will be a special guest of the SFF.
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As part of the Open Air SFF program, which traditionally attracts the largest number of visitors and for which the largest spaces for screenings are reserved, the audience will be able to see the film “Everybody Knows” directed and written by Asghar Farhadi.
Marcello Fonte and Edoardo Pesce, the main actors in the film Dogman directed by Matteo Garrone, will also arrive in Sarajevo in August. Fonte just received the Palme d’Or at Cannes for Best Actor for his performance in this film.
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The repertoire also includes the Franco-Spanish Angel directed by Luis Ortega, the Franco-Belgian Sink or Swim directed by Gilles Lellouche, and on the last day of the festival, a screening of the Hollywood hit The Spy Who Dumped Me directed by Susanna Fogel is planned.
A selection of the best film achievements
The founder and director of SFF, Mirsad Purivatra, claims that this year, 266 films in various categories and genres will offer the audience a selection of the best works that have appeared in the region as well as in Europe and the world.
For the Heart of Sarajevo Award in the feature film category, ten works from the wider region are competing this year, including two from Croatia and one more as a Croatian co-production.
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The competitive program includes Sam Samcat by Bobo Jelčić and The Little One by Antonio Nuić, this year’s winner of the festival in Pula, and in the race for Best Film is the film The Load by Serbian director Ognjen Glavonić, created in a Serbian-French-Croatian-Qatari co-production, in which the title role is played by Croatian actor Leon Lučev.
In the category of Best Short Film, Death White Bone directed by Filip Mojzeš will compete, while in the same program, but out of competition, the international premiere of Deep Cuts will take place, directed by Mojzeš along with Dubravka Turić and Filip Peruzović.
In the race for Best Documentary at this year’s SFF will be the Croatian-Swedish co-production Ikea for Yu directed by Marija Ratković Vidaković and Dinka Radonić, Srbenka by Nebojša Slijepčević, and 90 Seconds in North Korea directed by Ranko Pauković.
The impact of the festival
An independent study on the economic, cultural, and social impact of the Sarajevo Film Festival, conducted by the British consulting firm Olsberg SPI, showed that the festival attracted 10,000 tourists last year, which enabled an influx of 51.6 million convertible marks (30 million euros) and the employment of 1,385 workers.
In 2017, the festival generated 4.49 million convertible marks (17.6 million kuna) through direct spending of its own budget, contributing to the creation of 508,531 convertible marks (2.034 million kuna) of gross added value (GAV). During the preparation of the festival, 250 people were employed, which would equate to 28 permanent employees on an annual basis.
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When considering the multiplying effects of the festival, which include the economic activity of festival suppliers and the encouragement of increased consumption, the value of the economic impact associated with the festival is estimated at 10.3 million KM (41.2 million kuna), resulting in the employment of 99 full-time equivalent workers and the creation of 1.87 million KM (7.48 million kuna) of gross added value.
