Sarajevo Film Festival allows Ukrainian movies to compete

• Sarajevo Film festival opens a competitive programme for the first time to work from Ukraine.
• Ukrainian filmmakers were granted artist-in-residence status so they could work and further develop projects.
• The Festival was founded as a gesture of defiance against the Bosnian Serb siege in 1995.

The largest film industry showcase in the region, the Sarajevo Film Festival, is for the first time permitting Ukrainian films to compete and providing support to Ukrainian filmmakers.

The festival, which now spans from Vienna to Istanbul, was organised as a gesture of defiance by enthusiasts resisting a 43-month siege of the city by Bosnian Serb forces near the end of the Bosnian conflict in 1995.

“At the onset of the war in Ukraine it has become clear that something must be done in solidarity with colleagues from film industry in Ukraine,”  festival director Jovan Marjanovic said.

The festival, which began on Friday, chose to open its competitive programme to work from Ukraine and granted Ukrainian filmmakers artist-in-residence status so they could work and further develop their projects.

It also gave employment to Ukrainian experts who had previously worked at film festivals in Kyiv and Odessa but are now refugees.

Marysia Nikitiuk and Maria Stoyanova, screenwriters and filmmakers, arrived in Sarajevo few months ago to develop their scripts and exhibit them at Cinelink, an industry platform that brings together authors and producers alongside film screenings.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine delayed the production of Stoyanova’s debut feature when finance was stalled, the editor joined the army, and the producers volunteered to shoot the fighting.

On Friday, the festival was scheduled to present the Heart of Sarajevo Award to Ukrainian filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa.

Ruben Ostlund, a Swedish filmmaker, will also be honoured. The night will begin with his film “Triangle of Sadness,” which won this year’s Palme d’Or for Best Film at Cannes.

In addition to showcasing 235 films from 62 nations, 51 of which will be in competition, the festival will honour Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen and Oscar-nominated American actor and filmmaker Jesse Eisenberg.

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