Festival In Focus: As Sarajevo Film Festival’s 30th Edition Moves To New Headquarters, The Manifesto Remains The Same: “We Want To See The Local Film Industry Thrive”
deadline.comWhen the Sarajevo Film Festival was born in the midst of the Bosnian War in 1995, the festival’s initial aim was to reconstruct and regenerate the capital city and its inhabitants who had been cut off from the rest of the world during the four-year siege.
With the festival set to kick off its 30th edition on Friday, these early objectives – to support the local industry while also driving the city forward – still remain as this year’s edition will see the event move the bulk of its events from its usual home in Sarajevo’s old town to the Marijin Dvor neighborhood, a modern district of the city.
For festival director Jovan Marjanović, it’s a move that will signify a new era of a much-loved festival that has served as an essential launching pad for regional talent. “We’re testing the waters with this new place,” he tells Deadline. “And I hope that it allows for more infrastructure for the future of the festival.
It’s a significant move for us because all of the industry activities are moving to a new location at downtown’s Hotel Holiday and the nearby Cineplexx Cinemas as well as another big screening room around there.” The new downtown location, he adds, is close to a number of hotels and from a pure infrastructure point of view, it’s a positive move for the growing event, which Marjanović compares to Berlinale’s move from Zoo Palast to Potzdamer Platz in 2000.
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