Reflections by Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa
Historically a festival with its focus trained mainly on the South-East region of Europe, Sarajevo FF has extended its geographical remit to include Ukrainian films and filmmakers, which allows for future Ukraine selections within the fest’s feature, doc, short and student film competitions, the In-Focus programme and CineLink Film Industry Days, as well as the Talents Sarajevo programme which promotes the new generation of film hopefuls.
Sarajevo FF is also launching a residency programme for filmmakers from Ukraine, who will work on their projects both at development and post-production stage at Sarajevo in collaboration with leading Bosnia and Herzegovinan and international experts from the world of film, after which they will be presented at the festival’s CineLink Film Industry Days.
The Ukrainian delegation will be invited to the CineLink Film Industry Days with the aim of enhancing the collaboration with film professionals from Southeast Europe, says Sarajevo FF.
To symbolically mark the beginning of this collaboration, the Sarajevo Film Festival posted on its YouTube channel the film Reflections by Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa, part of the 2014 omnibus ‘Bridges of Sarajevo’, which brought together 13 important European directors on the centenary of World War I, who explored the topic of Sarajevo through their films.
“In this way, the Sarajevo Film Festival shows its solidarity with the Ukrainian people and filmmakers and condemns the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Launched in 1995 as an expression of cultural resistance to the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Sarajevo Film Festival knows from its own experience how valuable solidarity and support of this kind are,” the festival writes.
The Sarajevo Film Festival is an international film festival with a special focus on the region of South-East Europe (Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Georgia, Hungary, Kosovo, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Turkey and now Ukraine), shining an international spotlight on films, talent and future projects from the region.
