Sarajevo Film Festival Returns to Form as Launchpad for Local Talent

variety.com:

Christopher Vourlias When the first edition of what would become the Sarajevo Film Festival was held in 1995, the Bosnian capital was in the final year of a devastating, four-year siege.

Electricity shortages plunged the city into darkness, while food and hard currency were scarce. The inaugural screenings were held in the basement of a bombed-out building – a literal hole-in-the-wall – where tickets could be purchased with cigarettes instead of cash.The annual event that emerged from the rubble didn’t just contribute to the cultural life of the city.

In the early days after the siege, organizers and local clean-up crews got to work around Sarajevo, refurbishing historic buildings that had been destroyed by the shelling and converting them into festival venues. “Everyone who was involved felt that they were contributing to this rebuilding,” says festival director Jovan Marjanović. “The city was almost fully destroyed.

And the festival was the place, and this time in the summer, when it would come alive.” That experience helped to forge a unique relationship between the Sarajevo Film Festival and its host city, born from a resilience that has helped it navigate periods of flux and uncertainty to become the leading audience and industry event in the Balkans.After two years of slimmed-down editions and pandemic-fueled disruptions, festival leadership expects a robust turn-out on par with the last, record-breaking event in 2019.