Sarajevo Film Festival – Documentaries

The festival in Sarajevo is first and foremost a festival for feature films. Big names – actors and directors – have during the years visited the city’s festival that this year can celebrate its 19th edition. However, due to hard work from Rada Sesic, well-known director, programmer, critic and tutor, the festival now also, since 2006, includes a competitive documentary programme.

The 2013 programme (August 16-24) has been announced. Around 20 films have been selected by Sesic, of course from Bosnia-Hercegovina, but also from Macedonia (by the Greek called F.Y.R.O.M), Montenegro, Croatia, Serbia, Greece, Azerbaijan, Romania and Hungary.

From the many premieres, I have seen two of the films, which the festival audience can look forward to watch:

”Here… I mean there” by Laura Capatana, 73 mins., a touching story from a Romanian town about two sisters, whose parents work in Spain. Over years the director has followed the girls and their development and struggles with themselves. In the house where they live with their sweet granny.

”Regina” by Diana Groo, 63 mins. about the first female rabbi Regina Jonas, a great achievement from the side of the director, who had one photo of her main character to work from – the one you see.

Lots to look forward to, also for this blogger who has been invited to be a tutor at the so-called rough-cut-boutique, an industry event for documentary makers.

http://www.sff.ba/content.php/news/show/id/1262/culture/en

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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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