Sarajevo FF Documentary Competition 2024

… With a programme curated – as usual – by Rada Šešić, who picked 21 films for the programme. Nineteen films are competing for awards: 3 will have their world premieres, 5 their international premieres, 1 its European premiere, 8 their regional premieres, and 2 their Bosnian and Herzegovinian premieres in Sarajevo. Two films will be shown out of competition: one will have its world premiere, and one its Bosnian and Herzegovinian premiere.

“This year’s selection can be described as ‘fishing in the river of time’. This method, creatively applied in a large number of chosen films, offers a unique authorial perspective on the passage of time, whether through exceptional archival material or refined cinematic observation. Documentarians thereby provide the audience with an engaging sensory experience while prompting reflection. This is also a year of personal stories; half of the selection reflects deeply personal or intimate family narratives, yet through subtly depicted micro-worlds, it mirrors the exciting and often provocative macro-world of the environment, political upheavals, and social struggles. Short documentaries boldly blend cinematic styles and push the boundaries of documentary texture into other genres. We proudly highlight seven talented debutantes from the region whose brave and distinctly original cinematic expressions will define this documentary year,” stated Rada Šešić.

Jury:
Mandy Chang, Founder and Creative Director, Undeniable, Fremantle’s label, USA
Marek Hovorka, Founder and Director, Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival, Czech Republic
Wang Xiaoshuai, Director, writer and producer, China

Awards:

HEART OF SARAJEVO FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM
Award in the amount of €4,000, sponsored by the Government of Switzerland

HEART OF SARAJEVO FOR BEST SHORT DOCUMENTARY FILM
Award in the amount of €2,000

HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD
Award in the amount of €3,000, sponsored by the Kingdom of the Netherlands

SPECIAL JURY PRIZE
Award in the amount of €2,500

1. BIANG BIANG EXPRESS / MIÀN MIÀN JÙ DÀO, Nikola Stojanović (Serbia, China, 2024, 10 min.) – World premiere
2. DAD’S LULLABY / TATOVA KOLYSKOVA, Lesia Diak (Ukraine, Romania, Croatia, 2024, 78 min.) – World premiere
3. YOUR LIFE WITHOUT ME / AZ ÉLETED NÉLKÜLEM, Anna Rubi (Hungary, Sweden, 2024, 72 min.) – World premiere
4. HETEROTOPIA / HETEROTOPIJA, Nikola Nikolić (Serbia, 2024, 7 min.) – International premiere
5. LOXY, Dimitris Zahos, Thanasis Kafetzis (Greece, 2024, 87min.) – International premiere
6. OUR CHILDREN / NAŠA DJECA, Silvestar Kolbas (Croatia, 2024, 92 min.) – International premiere
7. THE SEAGULL / GALEB, David Lušičić (Croatia, 2024, 29 min.) – International premiere
8. WHAT WE ASK OF A STATUE IS THAT IT DOESN’T MOVE / AFTO POU ZITAME APO ENA AGALMA INE NA MIN KINITE, Daphné Hérétakis (Greece, France, 2024, 31 min.) – International premiere
9. RE:VISITED JASENOVAC, Admir Rahmanović (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sweden, 2023, 12 min.) – European premiere
10. ALICE ON & OFF, Isabela Tent (Romania, 2024, 86 min.) – Regional premiere
11. A PICTURE TO REMEMBER / FOTO NA PAM’YAT, Olga Chernykh (Ukraine, France, Germany, 2023, 72 min.) – Regional premiere
12. BETWEEN DELICATE AND VIOLENT / ZARAFET VE ŞIDDET ARASINDA, Şirin Bahar Demirel (Turkey, Netherlands, 2023, 15 min.) – Regional premiere
13. CENT’ANNI, Maja Prelog (Slovenia, Italy, Poland, Serbia, Austria, 2024, 87 min.) – Regional premiere
14. FRAGMENTS OF ICE / FRAGMENTY LYODU, Maria Stoianova (Ukraine, Norway, 2024, 95 min.) – Regional premiere
15. … NED, TASSOT, YOSSOT …, Brigitte Weich (Austria, 2023, 99 min.) – Regional premiere
16. PAIN / BOL, Ivan Faktor (Croatia, 2024, 22 min.) – Regional premiere
17. PAVILION 6 / PAVILJON 6, Goran Dević (Croatia, 2024, 69 min.) – Regional premiere
18. AT THE DOOR OF THE HOUSE WHO WILL COME KNOCKING / KO ĆE POKUCATI NA VRATA MOG DOMA, Maja Novaković (Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belgium, 2024, 85 min.) – B&H premiere
19. LIKE A SICK YELLOW / SI E VERDHË E SËMUR, Norika Sefa (Kosovo*, 2024, 23 min.) – B&H premiere
20. PRASLOVAN, Slobodan Maksimović (Slovenia, Croatia, 2024, 112 min.) – World premiere, out of competition
21. BEKIM FEHMIU, Valmir Tertini (Albania, 2023, 66 min.) – B&H premiere, out of competition.

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Tue Steen Müller
Tue Steen Müller

Müller, Tue Steen
Documentary Consultant and Critic, DENMARK

Worked with documentary films for more than 20 years at the Danish Film Board, as press officer, festival representative and film consultant/commissioner. Co-founder of Balticum Film and TV Festival, Filmkontakt Nord, Documentary of the EU and EDN (European Documentary Network).
Awards: 2004 the Danish Roos Prize for his contribution to the Danish and European documentary culture. 2006 an award for promoting Portuguese documentaries. 2014 he received the EDN Award “for an outstanding contribution to the development of the European documentary culture”. 2016 The Cross of the Knight of the Order for Merits to Lithuania. 2019 a Big Stamp at the 15th edition of ZagrebDox. 2021 receipt of the highest state decoration, Order of the Three Stars, Fourth Class, for the significant contribution to the development and promotion of Latvian documentary cinema outside Latvia. In 2022 he received an honorary award at DocsBarcelona’s 25th edition having served as organizer and programmer since the start of the festival.
From 1996 until 2005 he was the first director of EDN (European Documentary Network). From 2006 a freelance consultant and teacher in workshops like Ex Oriente, DocsBarcelona, Archidoc, Documentary Campus, Storydoc, Baltic Sea Forum, Black Sea DocStories, Caucadoc, CinéDOC Tbilisi, Docudays Kiev, Dealing With the Past Sarajevo FF as well as programme consultant for the festivals Magnificent7 in Belgrade, DOCSBarcelona, Verzio Budapest, Message2Man in St. Petersburg and DOKLeipzig. Teaches at the Zelig Documentary School in Bolzano Italy.

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