For programmer Rada Šešić, the process of selecting and screening films for the Sarajevo Film Festival (SFF) is a deeply personal experience.
“I’m going to reveal a secret to you,” Secic confided. “After introducing the film and its makers, I would stay in the theater and listen to how the audience ‘breathed’ and reacted; every time someone banged the door or left in the middle of the film, I would get a chill and see the restless crowd. The audience makes me sad.
Shecic holds his breath every time as he watches the 21 films selected from 275 submissions for this year’s documentary section (including 19 films in competition).
“Every screening felt like I was a student taking an exam, and I, not just the director, felt that the screening in Sarajevo was a special occasion, solemn in a way,” she said. “We have a lot of world or international premieres every year, and the moment a film meets an audience is usually very exciting.”
Shecic rated this year’s selection as a “very mature, engaging and engaging film”, which will be judged by a jury featuring Mandy Chang (Founder and Creative Director of the documentary company Undeniable), Marek Hovorka (Founder and Director of the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival in the Czech Republic) and the famous Chinese documentary producer Wang Shuai (beijing bicycle).
The competition will kick off with the world premiere of Hungarian filmmaker Anna Rubi’s latest feature your life without meIt tells the story of a group of elderly mothers who work to ensure that the support system they have established for their disabled adult children continues after the mothers pass away.
There will be a strong Ukrainian presence this year – after Russia’s 2022 invasion, Sarajevo opened up space for Ukrainian directors – projects include “World Premiere” daddy’s lullabyis the debut feature from acclaimed Ukrainian short film maker Lesia Diak, which follows the lives of traumatized soldiers as they return to their families. Diack will join Maria Stoyanova’s fragments of ice Tracing the director’s family history as a mirror of the history of his country; and Olga Chernykh’s a photo worth remembering, Portraits of three generations of Ukrainian women from Soviet times to the present day.
“Beyond the cinematic quality, our selections are very powerful depictions of the reality around us; the films are bold, straightforward and bravely shot. “I was amazed by the intimacy achieved by the stories written by so many people . “
Two Croatian productions are among this year’s documentary highlights. The BBC has reported on GorA Davis Hall 6takes a humorous look at COVID-19 vaccinations while Sylvester Sausage’ our children Interestingly, he reviewed the family’s history of more than 30 years and questioned “parenting, marriage and life harmony.”
sesik Point to Bosnian-born Maja Novakovic Who’s knocking at the door? As “an ode to the human spirit, celebrating the almost divine connection between man and nature.”
“Documentary films are highly relevant to our region,” Secic said. “They are social barometers that measure the ‘temperature’ of politics and society; they signal what is boiling beneath the surface. Often, they serve as vehicles for social and political discussion, allowing us to engage in meaningful dialogue.
She added: “Sometimes, taboo issues don’t make it into mainstream society for very long. They are often overlooked, ignored and pushed ‘under the rug’, but they must be seen and talked about. Gender issues, war Post-trauma, domestic violence, the silence associated with it, well-made documentaries have the power to spark these debates.
Documentaries are also part of SFF’s DNA, she says, dating back to a three-day screening program 20 years ago and which has since expanded to include platforms including the Dealing with the Past programme, the True Stories Market and the Documentary Rough Cuts Boutique. Helping many regional documentary projects reach international audiences.
“These non-competitive but vitally important projects allow relevant narratives to be heard and discussed,” Shecic said. “Each year I get excited about the screenings of the selected films because the focus of the festival is the encounter between the films and their audiences, as well as the filmmakers discussing their work.”
She concludes: “The Sarajevo Film Festival has a loyal, savvy audience interested in documentaries. This audience responds to the relevance and appeal of the story, but also knows how to respect the artistic expression of the author. The documentaries we compete for It gives the audience food for thought and is likely to lead to positive change in the long run.
