Sarajevo Film Festival Begins Today – Seven Days of Films and Entertainment

(Patria) - The 30th Sarajevo Film Festival begins today in the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, bringing together the best and latest releases from the world of film, as well as numerous filmmakers and audiences.

The festival will open with the world premiere of a new film by Bosnian-Herzegovinian director and Oscar winner Danis Tanović, "After the Summer".

The Sarajevo Film Festival runs until August 23 and will offer guests and local audiences the best of world cinema with a focus on regional productions, both from Bosnia and Herzegovina and from other countries of Southeast Europe, Ukraine, the South Caucasus, and Turkey.

Fifty-seven films will compete for the "Heart of Sarajevo" award, and this year the honorary "Heart" will be presented to Hollywood star, actress Meg Ryan, who will hold a masterclass lecture for filmmakers and other interested parties during the SFF. In addition to Ryan, Sarajevo will host artists such as Cord Jefferson, Alexander Payne, Elia Suleiman, and John Turturro during the Festival.

The Festival will screen just over 250 works from 70 countries across various genres of film art, and the SFF is a great opportunity for many young authors, as well as volunteers, who this year again ensure that the many Festival guests feel "at home" and can be seen these days working busily at all festival locations.

Traditionally, during the Sarajevo Film Festival, tourism workers, caterers, and other service providers in the city and its surroundings are "rubbing their hands" with satisfaction due to the multiple increase in guest traffic, whose number, judging by the overnight stays recorded by the Sarajevo Canton Tourist Board, has already exceeded one million in just over seven months.

Sarajevo's nightlife also "comes alive" significantly during the SFF, contributed to by a series of cultural and entertainment events organized parallel to the film showcase. To help both guests and Sarajevans following the Festival feel better and refresh themselves after screenings that sometimes last late into the night, the authorities have extended the working hours of catering establishments until two hours after midnight.

City and cantonal services are also ready to welcome the start of the largest film event in the region, and despite the hellish heat prevailing these days in Sarajevo, hardworking municipal service workers can be seen everywhere working on the arrangement of streets, squares, and promenades.