The Sarajevo Film Festival returns to the Bosnian capital from Aug. 14 – 21 with festival director Jovan Marjanović promising “some looking back and some looking forward” ahead of the 32nd edition.
“It’s been a joy and a big responsibility putting it together,” Marjanović tells Variety. “It was a great year for international cinema…. It’s a really vital and exciting time to be watching cinema from this part of the world.”
This year’s edition kicks off with “Fatherland,” from Oscar-winning Polish filmmaker Paweł Pawlikowski (“Ida”), who earned best director honors for the period drama after its premiere at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. It wraps with a screening of “No Man’s Land,” the Academy Award-winning war satire by Bosnian director Danis Tanović, which is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its release.
Across its various competition sections, the festival will feature 21 world premieres, six international premieres, one European premiere and 23 regional premieres. Highlights from the main competition include regional premieres for Kosovo-born filmmaker Visar Morina’s Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner “Shame and Money,” Austrian director Sandra Wollner’s Un Certain Regard winner “Everytime,” and Kosovar filmmaker Blerta Basholli’s Cannes Critics’ Week premiere “Dua,” the follow-up to her Sundance-winning debut “Hive.” World premieres include “Everything That’s Wrong With You,” the fourth feature from Slovenian director Urša Menart.
