Croatian films in the competitive and non-competitive programmes of the SFF

The main competitive programme of documentary films at the Sarajevo Film Festival, held from 12th to 20th August, will feature four domestic titles: A Two Way Mirror, from the director Katarina Zrinka Matijević, Islands of Forgotten Cinemas, directed by Ivan Ramljak, the German-Serbian-Croatian co-production Four Passports by Mihajlo Jevtić (the Croatian co-producer is Fade In) and the Serbian-Croatian co-production Wall of Death, and All That by Mladen Kovačević (the Croatian co-producer is Restart).

Along with these, the competitive programme of short films will screen The Beast, directed by Miroslav Sikavica. The competitive programme of feature films will show the Croatian film Transmania, a cooperation of 15 directors (Dalibor Matanić, Sonja Tarokić, Hana Jušić, Bobo Jelčić, Zvonimir Jurić, Vlatka Vorkapić, Jasna Zastavniković, Filip Šovagović, Ivan Salaj, Tanja Golić, Petar Orešković, Stanislav Tomić, Edi Mužina, Ivan Sikavica, Sara Hribar) which will be featured out of competition. Finally, the programme In Focus, which concentrates on the greatest achievements of regional cinematography, will feature three additional domestic titles: On the Other Side, directed by Zrinko Ogresta and two minority co-productions: Interruption, by director Yorgos Zois and Sieranevada by Cristi Puiu. 

SFF premieres: ZG80 and Unwanted Heritage

Three Croatian films have been included in the Avant Premiere programme of the Sarajevo Film Festival: ZG80 by Igor Šeregi and two minority co-productions, The Liberation of Skopje by Rade and Danilo Šerbedžija and Train Driver’s Diary by Miloš Radović. Furthermore, the programme will also screen two episodes of the television drama series Novine (Newspaper) directed by Dalibor Matanić, while Irena Škorić’s documentary Unwanted Heritage will premiere in the programme Dealing With the Past.

Open Air, Mediterranean Film Festival Split, Zagreb Film Festival (Best of Checkers)

Within the scope of the Open Air programme, the feature film A Good Wife by director Mirjana Karanović will be screened. Apart from the premieres of new films from Bosnia and Herzegovina, this programme will enable audiences in a cinema under the stars to see European films of exceptional quality, independently produced American films, along with documentary films created closer by. A Good Wife will be featured, alongside the film Sieranevada, in the programme BH Film which screens practically the entire annual production of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also films by authors living and working abroad.

The Mediterranean Film Festival Split programme will feature three short live action films and one Croatian animated film: Lula and the Pubic Hairs by Igor Jelinović, Boo-boo Boo hoo hoo by Josip Lukić, Thin Air by Šimun Šitum and Planemo by Veljko Popović. Finally, the Zagreb Film Festival (Best of Checkers) will feature five short live action titles: Playing the Tiger by Jasna Nanut, Picnic by Jure Pavlović, Indonesia by Daria Blažević, Belladonna by Dubravka Turić, and The Beast by Diana O. Pusić.

CineLink, Talents Sarajevo, Docu Rough Cut Boutique and the Children’s Programme

The co-production market CineLink presents the most promising regional feature film projects in the development and financing phase, and three projects from Croatian authors have been selected to be a part of it: Mare by the Swiss-Croatian director Andrea Štaka, produced by Okofilm Productions, Illyricvm, directed by Simon Bogojević Narath and produced by Kinorama and Just Close Your Eyes by Jure Pavlović and produced by Sekvenca. All three projects are feature films, while the last two titles are sponsored by the Croatian Audiovisual Centre in the script development and development of project and production categories.

The 10th Talents Sarajevo, the programme of the Sarajevo Film Festival aimed at young film professionals of the region, will include seven young professionals from Croatia. They are actresses Judita Franković and Darija Karić, actor Edi Ćelić, the producer Tajana Bakota, screenwriter Ivan Turković Krnjak, camerawoman Dubravka Kurobasa, and director Silva Ćapin, who will be working on her project Secretaries (produced by Eclectica) under expert mentorship as a part of the programme segment Pack&Pitch.

Docu Rough Cut Boutique of the Sarajevo Film Festival is meant for documentary projects in their final montage phase. The authors of five selected projects at the Docu Rough Cut will work in cooperation with the greatest European experts in documentary film. Within the scope of this programme, the domestic project F**k YU from the directors Marija Ratković and Dinka Radonić, produced by the Croatian Film Association, will be presented. This documentary film focuses on Yugoslavia, socialism, the family, intergenerational relations and a personal journey towards maturity.

The Children’s Programme features the minority co-production A Well Spent Afternoon directed by Martin Turk (the cinematographer is Radislav Jovanov Gonzo, editor Tomislav Pavlic, and the Croatian co-producer is Studio Dim).

It is also important to mention that this year’s SFF will be opened on 12th August with the screening of the cult film Taxi Driver (Martin Scorcese, 1976) and to mark the occasion Robert De Niro (1943), who starred in the film, will be presented with the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo, the greatest honour presented at the Sarajevo Film Festival.

A detailed schedule of projections can be found in the publication Keep an Eye on Croatian Films @ Sarajevo and all the relevant information can be found here.