Sarajevo Film Festival: Cinema in the spotlight, not politics

As the Sarajevo Film Festival prepares to launch its 30th edition, which will take place from August 16 to 23, the event is a testament to the resilience and creativity of South-Eastern European cinema in the face of social and political upheaval.

Few cities bear the scars and burdens of history as much as Sarajevo. The festival itself was born out of the conflict, which began in the early 1990s, during the city’s nearly four-year siege by Bosnian Serb forces. While the festival has never shied away from that history (it features a “Confronting the Past” section with films that examine “the many unresolved issues that date back to the conflict in the former Yugoslavia”), from the beginning the emphasis has been on the unifying power of cinema.

“The festival is showing Serbian films only a few years after the war, which was not a popular choice at the time,” says festival director Jovan Marjanović, “but we always thought it was important to build bridges and discuss, not to censor or boycott, but to open dialogue.”

In the three decades of the Sarajevo festival, Marjanović proudly notes, “no politician has ever delivered a political speech from the festival stage, nor used the festival as a springboard for local or international politics. This is something we have never done and we will never do.”

Instead, Sarajevo has focused on film, successfully evolving into a hub for filmmakers from the Balkans and neighboring countries, providing a platform to showcase their projects, often at the script or development stage, find co-production and distribution partners, and, in their final form, present cinematic stories that offer a more nuanced look at the region and its people.

“I think our interest in Southeastern European films is resurfacing with increased relevance this year,” Marjanović says. “With everything that’s been happening in the world and in these regions in recent years, and filmmakers who are interested in it or thinking about it, I think a picture of this region is emerging with all its complexities.”

One of Sarajevo’s distinguishing features over the years has been its commitment to nurturing talent at the earliest stages of filmmakers’ careers. The 2024 lineup again includes several first-time feature films, though Marjanović notes that first-time filmmakers “are rarely truly new voices for us, because we run so many platforms for short films, for student films, that these ‘new’ filmmakers have been at the festival for quite some time. It’s a real privilege to see them develop and grow in Sarajevo year after year.”

Established talents also return regularly. Palestinian director Elia Suielman, winner of the Heart of Sarajevo award this year, is a regular at the festival.

“I was president of the jury [in 2016]”I screened my films there. I think I did a few master classes, I think I went there once for no particular reason,” says…