Sarajevo 23

20 films feature in the festival’s designated Doc Competition, while non-fiction is also prominent within the Dealing With The Past and Kinoscope programmes. The 29th edition opens August 11 with Nenad Čičin-Šain’s U2 doc Kiss The Future. Additionally, the festival’s professional arm Cinelink Industry Days presents a slew of dynamic new doc projects from the region, plus talks and debates.

The full title of Sovran Nrecaj’s short doc in Sarajevo Competition is Fran and Verka: Or A Usual Day In An Abandoned Village, in which Sovran Nrecaj follows the last two folk left in a tiny parish following the 1999 war in Kosovo. The film is the first of a series of micro-histories from the region that the director wants to tell, “to bring these stories back from under the radar and diversify the already existing narratives,” Nrecaj tells BDE.

The themed programme will present authors who became famous with films about real events, as well as new authors who question the position of individuals whose lives have been marked by trauma from the recent past. “The aim of the program is to initiate dialogue in the countries formed from the disintegration of former Yugoslavia and to deal with problems arising as a result of the wars in the region,” write organisers.

The London-based sales agent has announced its acquisition for international sales of Nemanja Vojinović’s ‘western’ documentary Bottlemen. The Serbian-Slovenian film will world premiere at the upcoming Sarajevo Film Festival in Documentary competition, where it will compete for the Heart of Sarajevo award.

Directed by Nenad Čičin-Šain and written by Čičin-Šain and Bill Carter, the film showcases the struggle of the citizens of Sarajevo during the city’s siege during the Bosnian War and the post-war concert performed by U2 “to help shine a light when the world wasn't paying attention.” The film is produced by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck for Pearl Street Films and Sarah Anthony for Good Wolves Productions.

The 20 docs will feature nine world, one international, seven regional and three B&H premieres. Filmmakers will compete for four awards including the Heart of Sarajevo for Best Documentary Film, valued at €4,000 and sponsored by the Government of Switzerland. Jury will comprise Chicken and Egg’s Iva Dimitrova, Niklas Engstrom (CPH:DOX) and director/producer Péter Kerekes. Sarajevo FF runs 11-18 August.

Programmer Rada Šešić has devised a selection of 20 docs, featuring nine world, one international, seven regional and three B&H premieres. Filmmakers will compete for four awards including the Heart of Sarajevo for Best Documentary Film, valued at €4,000 and sponsored by the Government of Switzerland. The 29th edition of Sarajevo FF runs 11-18 August.