The International Confederation of Art Cinemas (CICAE), with Eva Demeter, international relations coordinator from Hungary, Piotr Szczyszyk, programmer and film education expert from Poland, and Anika Danielle Wagner, programmer and creative director of Traumstern Cinema in Germany, awarded the CICAE Award for Best Film to Andrea Štaka’s Mare.

For her role in the same film, Marija Škaričić received the Heart of Sarajevo for Best Actress, which makes her the first actress to win as many Hearts of Sarajevo for the lead female role at SFF – her previous collaboration with the director won her the same award in 2006, starring in Das Fräulein, and in 2004 she received it for the title role in A Wonderful Night in Split, directed by Arsen Anton Ostojić.  

In these challenging times, Mare still manages to reach audiences and find its way around the festival circuit. After Sarajevo, on 29th Aug, the film will inaugurate this year’s Pula Film Festival, which will mark its Croatian premiere.

In addition to Marija Škaričić, Goran Navojec, Ivana Roščić, Nikša Butijer, Mirjana Karanović, Zdenko Jelčić and Polish actor Mateuzs Kosciukiewicz make up the film’s cast. The film’s artistic team consists of director of photography Erol Zubčević, production designer Jana Plećaš, costume designer Sara Giancane and make-up artist Sabine Fluckinger. The film is a Swiss-Croatian co-production, created as a collaboration between producer Thomas Imbach and Andrea Štaka’s production company Okofilm Productions, and Dinaridi Film, with Tena Gojić as the film’s co-producer.

The Heart of Sarajevo for Best Short Film went to Tin Žanić’s Antiotpad, another Dinaridi Film production. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has named Sarajevo Film Festival an Oscar Academy Award qualifying film festival, which puts its Short Film category winners in the running for an Oscar nomination.

Besides directing the film, Tin Žanić co-wrote the screenplay together with Filip Romac and Jan Klemsche, while Filip Romac also did the cinematography and Jan Klemsche edited the film. Martin Semenčić created the sound design, Irena Stolla created the costume design, while Jana Pećaš was the production designer. The film stars Bernard Tomić and Roman Sem-Tuksar, and it was produced by Tena Gojić and Dora Prpić. Antiotpad problematizes the ripple effect of violence emanating from the problematic Zagreb adolescent as he approaches the breaking point.

The Heart of Sarajevo for Best Film went to Exile (Germany, Belgium, Kosovo), directed by Visar Morina, while Ru Hasanov (The Island Within) won the award for Best Director. The Heart of Sarajevo for Best Actor was awarded to Vangelis Mourikis for his role in Digger, directed by Georgis Grigorakis. 

A full list of award-winning titles may be found on the following link, while all other details about Sarajevo Film Festival are published on the festival’s official website. 

Sarajevo Film Festival’s Industry section awards 

As part of the Docu Rough Cut Boutique programme, Srđan Keča’s Museum of the Revolution has been awarded with 20 000 EUR in postproduction services. The decision was reached by a jury comprised of: Laurien Ten Houten (IDFA), Hanka Kastelicová (HBO Europe), Catherine Le Clef (CAT&Docs), Cristian Nicolescu (Digital Cube) and Brigid O'Shea (Dok Leipzig). 

This year for the first time, the Croatian Audiovisual Centre’s 15 000 EUR monetary prize  was awarded as part of the CineLink Drama programme. The award went to Dragos Bucur and Sofia Bucur’s project Black Delta. 

The TV Drama Vision Pitch Award – the award which leads to a presentation of the project at the TV Drama Vision conference held in Gothenburg early next year, went to the Croatian crime drama series in development, The Abyss, created by screenwriter Marjan Alčevs. The Nukleus Film production is directed by Mladen Dizdar and produced by Siniša Juričić.

Cover photographs: Marija Škaričić; Tin Žanić; Sarajevo Film Festival 
(*photographs taken form the official SFF Facebook page)