Efendić and Marjanović Sign Agreement: Citizens of Novi Grad Enabled to Enjoy the Sarajevo Film Festival

(Patria) - The Novi Grad Sarajevo Municipality, in cooperation with the Obala Art Center, has once again enabled residents of the most populous municipality of the city of Sarajevo and visitors to Sarajevo to watch screenings of the 30th Sarajevo Film Festival program at two locations in the Novi Grad Sarajevo municipality.

During the Sarajevo Film Festival, the youngest film enthusiasts will have the opportunity to watch films from the children's and TIN arena programs at the Novi Grad cinema at 6 PM, while evening screenings will be shown from 8:30 PM at the open-air summer cinema in the Safed Zajko center. Thus, the program of the 30th Sarajevo Film Festival in Novi Grad opens tonight with a film by BH Oscar winner Danis Tanović.

The Mayor of Novi Grad, Semir Efendić, and the Director of the Sarajevo Film Festival, Jovan Marjanović, signed a cooperation agreement.

"We have an interesting anniversary: 30 years of the Sarajevo Film Festival and 20 years of cooperation between the Novi Grad Municipality and the Sarajevo Film Festival. So, the first time was in 2004, and here in 2024 we have 20 years of successful cooperation between the Novi Grad Municipality and the Sarajevo Film Festival, so in a way we are celebrating two anniversaries. Evening screenings are here in the Safed Zajko center. Outdoors, in case of rain and bad weather, they are moved to the Novi Grad cinema. On the other hand, daytime screenings, including children's films from the TIN Arena program, are held at the Novi Grad municipality cinema, so in a way our citizens have already gotten used to it," said Efendić.



He added that it is a pleasure to be part of the overall ambiance and program of the Sarajevo Film Festival, which is the most significant cultural public event that takes place in a year in the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"The funding from the municipality is around 28,000 marks, the value of this contract we are now signing, and of course the Sarajevo Film Festival is much more than that, and I have nothing else to say but to thank them for the successful cooperation so far. I hope it will be expanded. There was an idea to have festivals at the Dobrinja open-air pool. This year, all the prerequisites could not be met, perhaps next year we could have screenings there as well, in a different ambiance," emphasized Efendić.

The Director of the SFF, Marjanović, said that the most populous municipality, as we know, in the city of Sarajevo is truly a place where the festival wants to be and always feels welcome.

"This is the ambiance of the entire Safed Zajko center, I think exactly the ambiance that the Festival should complement, a truly fantastic gathering place, and we are always happy to see that there is interest here for Sarajevo Film Festival screenings because I think this municipality deserves it, as it is one of the few municipalities that deals with this, that the municipality truly cares that its residents have access to the highest quality films, not only during the Sarajevo Film Festival through this partnership of ours, but throughout the year, through the operation of the Novi Grad cinema in the municipality's premises. I think that is truly fantastic and probably the only municipality that does it that way.

So on that, I also congratulate you and we look forward to the possibilities of finding new locations in the municipality, including the pool, for which I am sure that when conditions are met, we will create a great atmosphere and figure out how best to complement this activity that the municipality has. As the municipality has enabled its citizens. So once again thank you, thank you for following the Sarajevo Film Festival," Marjanović stated.