14th Sarajevo Film Festival

From August 15 to 23 this fest will be held in Sarajevo and here are the feature films in the competition program.

Buick Riviera, Goran Rušinović, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, 2008
Četvrti Čovek (The Fourth Man), Dejan Zečević, Serbia, 2007
Delta, Kornél Mundruczó, Hungary and Germany, 2008
Gitmek (My Marlon and Brando), Hüseyin Karabey, Turkey, 2008
Kino Lika, Dalibor Matanić, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, 2008
Lányok (Girls), Anna Faur, Hungary, 2007
März (March), Händl Klaus, Austria, 2008
Nikoli Nisva Šla V Benetke (We’ve Never Been to Venice), Blaž Kutin, Slovenia, 2008
Nokta (Dot), Derviş Zaim, Turkey, 2008
SonBahar (Autumn), Özcan Alper, Turkey, 2008

I suggest you check the In Focus program with some interesting films, especially Boogie by Radu Muntean from Romania. The program is here.

In the Panorama program there is one movie that really called my attention: Japan Japan by Lior Shamriz, Israel and Germany, as is an experimental film that the shooting expenses totaled 200 euros!!! And is a gay interest movie. Have to see this to learn how to do what the fest calls: No-Budget filmmaking. To check the films in the Panorama section go here.

The opening film in the Panorama program is none other than 24 City by Jia Zhang-ke and I just want to record here an excerpt from the press release where he’s announced as a special guest of the fest, I just love what it says.

“Jia Zhang-ke is recognized as one of the leading Chinese directors who through his work wishes to speak about authentic life in China. In all of his films, he has been consistently going back to the topics of alienation and disorientation of Chinese society.

Jia Zhang-ke throws his films into the face of older generation of directors, who have idealized Chinese society in their films, and who had more understanding for problems that have been bothering Jia Zhang-ke. Jia Zhang-ke speaks up about all problems of contemporary China, about its rich tradition, but also about politics, about the future.”

Jury Members
President: Nuri Bilge Ceylan, director/writer, Turkey
Jury members: Hugh Hudson, director, UK; Marija Škaričić, actress, Croatia; Michael Weber, founder and Director of Match Factory, Germany; and Deborah Young, artistic director of the Taormina filmfest, Usa/Italy.

Most interesting is the Cinelink industry section of the Sarajevo fest that includes project development workshops, co-production market, awards, industry screenings, conferences, and more. The have 12 projects competing for the awards; but the most interesting news come from Cinelink+ Selection that has 3 projects and take a look.

The Bank Of, Onur Unlu, Turkey
Girls, Andrea Štaka, Switzerland and Croatia
Outskirts, by Christian Mungiu and Ioana Uricaru, director Anatoli Reghintovschi, Romania

To check this section go here.

There are more films in other festival programs that have to be announced, so I’ll be checking the site and post accordingly. The fest will present films from sixteen countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, Kosovo, Macedonia, Malta, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, and Turkey. The fest homepage is here and definitively I will closely follow this fest that has so many interesting news.