When the Sarajevo Film Festival began in 1995, it was a challenge. Founded during the siege of the city during the Bosnian War, the festival has been a symbol of the power and resilience of cinema even in times of violence and war.
In 2002, when the festival launched its CineLink program, it was full of hope, for a better future for the film industry in the former Yugoslavia or across the South East European region.
What began as a modest co-production market to foster production with and among filmmakers in the region has now, two decades later, expanded into a rich and varied program of conferences, panels, lectures and master classes. The heart of the industry program at the Sarajevo Film Festival, CineLink now plays an essential role in the search for new talent from the region, teaching and supporting them in their creative development through programs such as Talents Sarajevo, an offshoot of the Berlinale Talents program in Berlin. , showing their students. and short films and through participating in the CineLink co-production market, connecting them with potential investors and co-producers to help launch their international careers.
After completing their first film, they will be invited to CineLink Work-in-Progress to present their films to top festival programmers at Sundance, Berlinale, Cannes, Venice and other major film festivals and look for sales agents. ” says Maša Marković, former director of CineLink, who began managing the entire Sarajevo industrial program, replacing Jovan Marjanović after he was promoted to director of the Sarajevo Film Festival this year.
Courtesy of the Sarajevo Film Festival
Sarajevo expanded its sphere of influence this year to include Ukraine, a response to the Russian invasion of the country and an expression of solidarity with the Ukrainian people and their leaders. To provide a safe environment for Ukrainian colleagues to work, the Sarajevo Film Festival, in cooperation with the Ukrainian Institute, has launched a residency program for Ukrainian filmmakers to live and work in Sarajevo under the guidance of leading Bosnian and international film experts.
“We decided to start a residency program in cooperation with the Ukrainian Institute for two selected Ukrainian projects: Drama. Cherry blossomsDirected by Marysia Nikitiuk and produced by Igor Savichenko, in the artistic and artistic projects development program ice shardsDirector Maria Stoyanova and producer Alina Gorlova, in the post-production program of the documentary project. Both projects will be presented to decision makers on CineLink”, explains Marković.
Over the past 20 years, CineLink has paved the way for many filmmakers in the past whose projects were developed through the program. Some notable success stories are award-winning docudramas the land of honey by Macedonian director Tamara Kotevska, who had her world premiere at Sundance and won two 2020 Academy Award nominations for Best International Feature Film and Best Documentary; 2018 Golden Bear Winner do not touch me An award-winning drama from Romanian director Adina Pintilje and North Macedonia God exists, her name is Petrunia by Theona Strugar Mitevska, whose last film the happiest person in the world Selected for this year’s Venice Film Festival competition program.
For the 2022 Sarajevo Film Festival, CineLink presented the Women’s Voices Award, a new $10,200 (€10,000) cash prize presented by the Slovenian Film Center. The new award aims to promote the voices of women from Southeast Europe and will be awarded to a project that participates in the CineLink Co-Production or Drama broadcasts. The best project will be selected by a jury of three people, the main criterion being the quality of the script.
“When you look at the statistics, you see that most of the projects featured on CineLink are produced by women, around 65% to 70%, but when you look at the number of films directed or written by women, it’s different. story. It’s about 35 percent,” explains Markovic, explaining why a new Women’s Voices Awards is needed in the region, adding, “We think it will encourage female filmmakers.”
She adds: “The festival and CineLink have supported filmmakers for a long time. In 2014, the Eurimages Gender Equality Convention was established in Sarajevo as part of CineLink, and in 2020, the Eurimages Audientia Award, given to women filmmakers, was launched in Sarajevo. Last year, we introduced a new gender equality prize in the festival sections for first-time filmmakers, which includes a cash prize of US$7,600 (€7,500).
Organizers hope the award will help filmmakers with financial support to fund their first projects.
“Often, this is the most difficult step: getting the money needed to start the project. With this award, we intend to initiate and support projects for female directors and screenwriters”, says Marković.
Source: Hollywood Reporter
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