The Verdict: Sarajevo 2024
Sarajevo Film Festival’s 30th edition was a starry affair, balancing stories from the Balkan region’s dark past with signposts to a brighter future.
Sarajevo 2024
Sarajevo 2024: The Awards
The Romanian ‘Three Kilometers to the End of the World’ by director Emanuel Pârvu took home the Heart of Sarajevo for Best Feature Film.
Mother Mara
Mirjana Karanovic shines as both creator and star of Mother Mara, a nuanced drama about a middle-aged woman navigating loss, adapted from elements of a Tanja Sljivar play.
Saule Bliuvaite on awards, future plans and Stephen King.
We spoke to Saule Bliuvaite, fresh off her dual triumph in Locarno with her debut feature ‘Toxic’.
Skill Issue
Teens scrutinise each other on a hot summer’s day at the river and drift off into the wilderness in this unique, mysterious German coming-of-ager.
Holy Electricity director Tato Kotetishvili in Sarajevo: “When you’re open to chance, the universe gives you surprises”
Fresh from awards in Locarno, Georgian director Tato Kotetishvili spoke about integrating reality and trusting in magic with debut feature Holy Electricity.
On the Way
A father and son heading home from football practice face the realities of bureaucracy and the lure of migration in Samir Karahoda’s finely tuned short, On the Way.
When Santa Was a Communist
Santa Claus is not coming to town in Emir Kapetanovic’s bittersweet comic road movie ‘When Santa Was a Communist’, which is based on an absurd true story in the Balkan region’s ongoing culture wars.
John Turturro in Sarajevo: “As you can see, I’m a very inhibited actor.”
Beloved American actor John Turturro spoke of depicting eccentrics, early typecasting, and the realities of mental health care to a rapt masterclass audience in Sarajevo.
Alexander Payne talks ‘Election’ sequel, western plans and his love for classic car chase movies.
The Oscar-winning director of ‘Sideways’, ‘About Schmidt’, ‘Nebraska’ and ‘The Holdovers’ came to Sarajevo Film Festival for a masterclass talk and gala screening.
A Fidai Film
Kamal Aljafari reclaims and re-envisages looted images from Beirut’s Palestine Research Centre in his moving and enigmatic intervention into the territory of memories.
Julie Keeps Quiet
Belgian filmmaker Leonardo van Dijl makes a strong feature debut with sports drama ‘Julie Keeps Quiet’, which premiered in Cannes.
Dad’s Lullaby
All is disquiet on the eastern home front in Ukrainian director Lesia Diak’s scrappy but emotionally engaging debut documentary ‘Dad’s Lullaby’.
Cord Jefferson talks race and racism, ‘American Fiction’ and post-Oscars plans in Sarajevo.
The Oscar-winning writer-director of ‘American Fiction’ gave a lively masterclass and hosted a gala screening as part of the Balkan-region film fest’s 30th anniversary edition.
Avant-Drag!
A lively documentary from Greek director Fil Ieropoulos, ‘Avant-Drag!’ salutes the radical roots and ongoing bravery of queer performers who defy gender norms, especially in more conservative societies.
Family Therapy
Slovenian writer-director Sonja Prosenc explores the tragicomic extremes of wealth and privilege in her sprawling but impressive social satire ‘Family Therapy’.
My Late Summer
A young woman learns some bittersweet life lessons about love and family in Oscar-winning Bosnian director Danis Tanovic’s latest sunny but slight glum-com ‘My Late Summer’.
Like a Sick Yellow
Like a Sick Yellow is a fragmentary portrait of place that blurs fact with fiction to create an elusive and unnerving meditation on memory and the Kosovan war.
Sarajevo Film Festival celebrates 30 years as a potent symbol of peace, unity and great cinema.
Southwest Europe’s biggest film festival is marking its landmark anniversary with a feast of premieres, new locations across the city, plus starry guests including Meg Ryan and John Turturro.
At the Door of the House Who Will Come Knocking
Finding universal emotion in a singular case study, director Maja Novakovic’s painterly debut feature ‘At the Door of the House Who Will Come Knocking’ is a hauntingly beautiful meditation on loss and loneliness.
When the Phone Rang
One last memory of a Yugoslavia that no longer exists becomes a site of obsessive return in Iva Radivojevic’s elegantly narrated reconstruction.