The decision was reached based on instructions and information received from the Sarajevo Canton Civil Protection Service, the Government of the Sarajevo Canton and the Crisis Centre of the Federal Ministry of Health on 4th August of this year. These include the “recommendations to the residents of B&H to avoid public gatherings and limit their movements due to the escalating COVID-19 epidemiological situation.” The Sarajevo Film Festival once again confirms their commitment and responsibility to the community in which it operates.    

The viewers from across Bosnia and Herzegovina and the entire region will be able to watch Sarajevo Film Festival’s various film programmes online, via the ondemand.sff.ba platform. The platform will also include access to side programmes such as lectures and talks with authors and directors.

This year’s Sarajevo Film Festival will present six Croatian films and minority co-productions in the Feature Film, Documentary, Short Film and Student Film competitions, while Croatian titles will also feature in the non-competition sections. In addition, Croatian filmmakers will participate in the industry segment of the festival.     

In the Feature Film competition, Croatia is represented by Andrea Štaka’s Mare, a Swiss-Croatian co-production. Đuro Gavran’s One of Us will have its world premiere in the Documentary competition, while Antiotpad, directed by Tin Žanić and Microcassette – The Smallest Cassette I've Ever Seen, a Croatian-Serbian co-production directed by duo Igor Bezinović and Ivana Pipal will appear in the Short Film competition. The Student Film competition includes two Croatian titles – Angina Pectoris directed by Filip Mojzeš and Faceless by David Lušičić. 

The In Focus programme, which showcases the best films from the region that have already made a splash at other festivals, will screen Ognjen Sviličić’s The Voice. The programme Dealing with the Past will screen Dana Budisavljević’s The Diary of Diana B., while the Open Air section will feature Croatian minority co-production Father, directed by Srdan Golubović (with Croatian producers Lana Matić and Boris T. Matić of Propeler Film). The film Don’t Forget to Breathe, directed by Martin Turk, another Croatian minority co-production (with Marina Andree Škop and Darija Kulenović Gudan of Studio Dim as Croatian producers), will appear in TeenArena, a programme focusing on coming-of-age stories, the relationship between the world and youth, and the obstacles this population encounters and overcomes, learning to form their own critical viewpoints and opinions.

A cooperation with Zagreb Film Festival (Best of Checkers) will feature four short films: Elephant´s Graveyard by Filip Mojzeš, Judita Gamulin’s Sedra, Summer Fruits by Josip Lukić and Rino Barbir’s Snitch.     

Croatian film professionals will also sit on Feature Film, Documentary and Student Film juries: actress Jadranka Đokić will be part of the Feature Film jury, Goran Dević will sit on the Documentary competition jury, while the jury deciding on the best student film will include, among others, producer Lana Matić.

It has also been announced that Sarajevo Film Festival will award the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo to Mexican director, screenwriter and producer Michel Franco.

The CineLink film industry programme and Talents Sarajevo, the festival’s training platform for young film professionals from Southeastern Europe and the Southern Caucasus will this year be held in the online format, as well.  

“We thank the authors, guests, sponsors and our audience for their continuous support to Sarajevo Film Festival during the global pandemic. We would especially like to thank our 300-member staff and partner organization, who, in the face of this complex situation, keep working on this year’s edition of the festival. Let us meet on 14 August at 8 P.M. for the world premiere of Focus, Grandma, directed by Pjer Žalica, at ondemand.sff.ba!“ said Sarajevo Film Festival organizers.

All other information about Sarajevo Film Festival is available on the festival’s official website.