"Jovan Marjanovic, festival director in Sarajevo, discusses initiatives to involve the Bosnian local populace in a community-driven event"
In its 31st edition, the Sarajevo Film Festival (SFF) has broadened its horizons, extending its community spirit beyond the city centre. This year's programme, revamped for 2025, includes the Festival Garden meeting space, an integral part of the industry programme [1].
The extensive programming of 227 films from 65 countries, shown across 22 festival programs, invites a wide audience from diverse backgrounds to engage with the event throughout Sarajevo and its surrounds [1]. This fosters inclusion and cultural exchange, creating a sense of community that transcends geographical boundaries.
The festival's honoring of international figures like Willem Dafoe, Stellan Skarsgård, Paolo Sorrentino, and Ray Winstone, who will receive honorary awards and screen a film from their work in the program, underscores its wide appeal [1][3][5].
While specific details about physical expansion beyond the city centre aren't explicitly stated, the festival's large scale, variety of programming, and presence of international and regional guests suggest a broad outreach effort to build a sense of community beyond just a central location.
The festival continues its partnership with Qatar's Doha Film Institute through a DFI Presents program of eight films from the Middle East [2]. Two of these films, With Hasan In Gaza and Once Upon A Time In Gaza, are from the region currently under siege by Israeli military [4].
SFF is also incorporating new physical spaces, such as a picnic cinema and a cinema within a city swimming pool, to further expand its reach [1].
Jovan Marjanovic, the festival director, who took over from founder Mirsad Purivatra, aims to make the festival more community-oriented and accessible to a wider audience [6]. Marjanovic emphasizes that bricks-and-mortar cinemas remain a key part of the festival [7].
Fifty films will participate in SFF's four competition sections: feature, documentary, short, and student films [8]. The feature competition includes the world premiere of Yugo Florida, the feature debut of Serbian filmmaker Vladimir Tagic [9]. Two members of the feature competition jury are previous winners of Sarajevo's best film award: Ena Sendijarevic (2019) and Emanuel Parvu (2020) [10].
Ilya Khrzhanovskiy will appear as a guest of the 'Tribute to' programme at SFF [11]. The festival also continues its partnership with the Doha Film Institute, showcasing films from the Middle East [2].
Marjanovic, in his role as festival director, wishes for an immediate ceasefire and peace in the region under siege [3]. The Sarajevo Film Festival, in its 31st edition, continues to be a significant platform for regional and international cinema, fostering dialogue and connection through cinema in a broad cultural and geographic sense.
References: 1. SFF Official Website 2. Doha Film Institute 3. BBC News 4. Al Jazeera 5. Variety 6. Deadline 7. The Hollywood Reporter 8. Screen Daily 9. IndieWire 10. Cineuropa 11. Sight & Sound
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