With a solemn awards ceremony for the best achievements, the 31st Sarajevo Film Festival concluded tonight at the National Theater Sarajevo, and Serbian titles achieved a convincing triumph, receiving awards for best actor, director, and film.
After eight days and hundreds of films in different selections, the expert juries gave their verdict on the best film achievements of the 31st Sarajevo Film Festival, declaring the best student, documentary, acting, and feature-length works.
The Special Young Perspectives Award, a newly established recognition from the Council of Europe in the amount of 7,500 euros, went to the Macedonian film “Dj Ahmet” by Georgi M. Unkovski, and the recognition for promoting gender equality, with the same monetary value, went to the film “God Will Not Help You” by the Croatian director Hana Jušić.
The award for best student film (in the amount of 1,000 euros) was given to “Tarik” by Adem Tutić, and the author, holding his student ID in his hand, said:
-I dedicate this award to my colleagues in Serbia who are fighting for freedom!
A special recognition in the short film category went to Lili Kos for “Eraserhead in a knitted shopping Bag”, while “Winter in March” by Natalia Mirzoyan was declared the best.
Out of 20 titles that were in the running for the Heart of Sarajevo for best documentary, special recognitions went to the titles “I Believe the Portrait Saved me” by Alban Muje and “In Hell with Ivo” by Kristina Nikolova. The Heart of Sarajevo for a short documentary was given to “The Men’s Land” by Mariam Bakačo Kačavani, and for a documentary film – “Our Trime Will Come” by Yvette Lokere.
The jury of the Main, competitive program chose among nine feature films. And the jury, led by filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa, awarded the Heart of Sarajevo for best actor to the Serbian actor Andrija Kuzmanović, who gave a performance in “Yugo Florida” by Vladimir Tagić, in which he simultaneously brings simplicity and complexity.
-Thank you all, this award is very important in my life. My first passport, when I was little, was from Yugoslavia and I can’t explain to you how important it is that I received my first major film award right here in Sarajevo – Kuzmanović said from the stage.
The Heart of Sarajevo for best actress was shared by the entire female ensemble, more precisely the quartet from the Slovenian film “Fantasy” by director Kukla.
-Thank you for this wonderful award. We have no words…
The best director was Ivana Mladenović for the Romanian-Serbian co-production “Sorrela di Clausura”, because, as the jury explained, of the sharp direction of an essentially bitter comedy:
-I am grateful that I was able to show the film here. Thank you for the award – Mladenović was modest.
And the main award – the Heart of Sarajevo for best film – went to another Serbian film – “Wind Talk to Me” by screenwriter and director Stefan Đorđević. Đorđević received the award for his unique approach, a combination of documentary and feature film, filled with melancholy and delicate beauty, Loznitsa explained, and Stefan Đorđević, who came on stage to receive the Heart of Sarajevo, thanked the festival and recalled that his first film experience began right there:
-The Sarajevo Film Festival cares about filmmakers in the region. Thanks to my family, because without them I could not do anything. I dedicate this award to my mother, but also to all mothers who worry about their children while they are being beaten on the streets. I dedicate it to all the mothers of students in Serbia.
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Source: Nova.rs, Photo: Printscreen Insagram @sarajevofilmfestival