The awards of the 31st Sarajevo Film Festival were handed out August 22, with the following prizes handed out to documentary films and projects.
The Oscar® qualifying Heart of Sarajevo for Best Documentary, valued €4,000, went to Austrian Ivette Löcker for Our Time Will Come.
The jury, which comprised Blake Levin (producer, USA), Cíntia Gil (film curator, Portugal), Veton Nurkollari (artistic director of DokuFest and film curator, Kosovo) commented: “The Heart of Sarajevo award for best documentary feature goes to a film that combines the beauty and the challenges of creating togetherness, with the generosity and rigour of making films in the intimacy of lives being lived. It is a film that builds a cinematic time and space for the complexities of love and the politics of coexistence, valuing the richness that each person may bring to our common spaces.
The Special Jury Award (€2,500) was won by Kristina Nikolova for In Hell With Ivo. The jury gave the prize “for the filmmaker’s deft ability to let her iconoclast subject’s charisma and talent erupt on screen, shaping a narrative of Ivo’s performances that push audiences into discomfort with honesty, compassion, and connection.” A Special Mention was given to Alban Muja for I Believe the Portrait Saved Me (Kosovo, Netherlands).
The Heart of Sarajevo for Best Short Documentary was won by Mariam Bakacho Khatchvani for The Men’s Land. The jury stressed how the award was given to a film “that brings forward and challenges a centuries old custom. With unobtrusive, yet close and intimate camera work, and with precise editing, we are presented a film that speaks volumes about injustice and integrity.”
CINELINK AWARDS
In the CineLink professional programme, Laurentiu Garofeanu’s LOST AND FOUND: Romania’s Hidden Adoption Market (Romania) won the Think-Film Impact Production Award (€20,000 in-kind).
As earlier announced, The Docu Talent Award was granted to the most promising project. The international jury decided to give award to A Song Without Home by Georgian director Rati Tsiteladze, produced by Olga Slusareva. The jury gave the following statement: “A raw film with real-world stakes – the imminent personal risk to both the filmmakers and subject makes this a worthy recipient of the Docu Talent Award. Distinctive visuals will entice the audience; who will then find a heartfelt portrayal of a life lived with honesty, despite the danger posed to the protagonist. [It is given] with our solidarity with the independent filmmaking community of Georgia.”
The 25,000 EUR in-kind Avanpost Post-production Award was handed to Armenian-Swiss co-production Flying Cows by directors Vahagn Khachatryan and Aren Malakyan, produced by Vahagn Khachatryana and Irene Muñoz Martin. The jury gave the following statement: “This engaging, emotive project promises an animal’s journey that is scary, surreal and troubling. Flying Cows polarised the jury, eliciting strong responses from all of us; what we agreed on is that it will continue to do so on its journey to audiences. There is a strong sense of scene and narrative, as the animal experience is set amongst a divisive political context.”
The 3,000 EUR in-kind DAFilms.com Distribution Award was given to Land of Fire by Czech director Nikola Klinger, produced by Kristina Husová. The award covers international VOD release on DAFilms.com (including Americas, Europe, Asia) for two years. The jury gave the following statement: “A vibrant cast of characters deserve a broad audience. Land Of Fire is therefore a deserving recipient of this award, as it takes in a dark North American story with an original European perspective. The combination of the pain of the story and the harshness of the surroundings make for a strong watch.”
