Film 'After the Summer' in cinemas across Bosnia and Herzegovina from August 29

(Patria) - Accompanied by ovations and thunderous applause from the audience, the new film by Oscar winner and two-time winner of the Berlin Silver Bear, Danis Tanović, ‘After the Summer’ opened the jubilee, 30th edition of the Sarajevo Film Festival on Friday. Screened at multiple locations in Sarajevo, as well as in Mostar and Tuzla, this comedic drama attracted great public interest, and after the Festival, it will be available in cinemas across Bosnia and Herzegovina from August 29. The film sold out in all three cities several days before its world premiere.

‘I don’t know if I met expectations, because I don’t know if anyone still expects anything from me. Every film of mine is different from the previous one, and so is ‘After the Summer’ from what I’ve filmed before,’ said director Tanović during a conversation at the Festival Square as part of the ‘Grand Kafa sa…’ program.

‘Sarajevo Film Festival is truly an incredible story. I experience it as something
of my own, I have always experienced it as something truly mine. The people who run it, I really take my hat off to them, it’s not an easy job. And the Festival has long since outgrown the borders of Bosnia and Herzegovina,’ said the BiH director.

He was joined by actors Goran Navojec, Uliks Fehmiu, and Anja Matković, who is also the screenwriter, and they revealed details about the making of the film.

‘Filming on the island is beautiful and very romantic, but it is extremely demanding in terms of production. Especially on the island of Prvić, where there are no motor vehicles except for a tiller and small tractors. Add to that the weather conditions, and you are mostly filming exteriors, so you know what can go wrong,’ said actor Goran Navojec, emphasizing that they were lucky. Of all the shooting days – it only rained on one.

‘I generally don’t greet producers, they are natural enemies of the artistic staff, but this time I congratulate them because they managed to endure all of it,’ said Navojec.

‘After the Summer’ was produced by Propeler Film (Croatia) and co-produced with Tangaj Production (Romania), Obala Art Centar (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Baš Čelik (Serbia), and Tramal Films (Slovenia), with producers Lana Matić, Boris T. Matić, Jelena Mitrović, Srdan Golubović, Mirsad Purivatra, Jovan Marjanović, Anamaria Antoci, Miha Černec, and Jožko Rutar.

Despite all the praise for the producers, life on the set of the film ‘After the Summer’ still had its unexpected moments. Not surprising, considering that cows are an important part of the film.

‘When I read a script where I see animals and children, I always skip it. But working with cows… It would have been best if we had filmed a documentary about it. We brought cows to the island, then they ran away, and in the end, we were chasing them around the island to film another shot,’ said director Tanović with a smile.

Lead actress and screenwriter Anja Matković spoke about the film’s story about a young woman, Maja, who comes to a remote island to settle her family inheritance and, in a whirlwind of new emotions, through a series of unforeseen situations, must confront issues from her past.

‘I hope that female empathy has been conveyed through the film, that the audience felt that sensibility,’ said Matković.

Actor Uliks Fehmiu confirmed that a good team is needed for the success of a film.

‘When I see Goran in a scene, when I see what Danis is doing, then I want to be a part of it. I want to watch such films, but also to make them,’ said Fehmiu, who is the son of acting legend Bekim Fehim, and who feels Sarajevo in his – heart.

‘I am fatefully connected to Sarajevo. My father was born in Sarajevo, I served in the army here, my wife Snežana, with her role as Badema, became a part of the fabric of this city… I emigrated to America in 1993, and I’m sitting there, baking bread to survive, when in 2001 Danis’s film ‘No Man’s Land’ appears. I go to watch it at Lincoln Center, and in the dark, a lullaby version begins, which my mother used to sing to me, and I sing to my child. I’ve never heard it anywhere else. It’s a Sandžak lullaby – ‘nani milo sam te prevario, prije tebe nego tvoju majku…’ And ‘No Man’s Land’ begins and ends with it. So, Sarajevo is in my veins, what can I say,’ Uliks Fehmiu emotionally shared his story, earning applause from those present.

The film was made with the support of the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, the Ministry of Culture and Sports of Sarajevo Canton, the Sarajevo Film Fund, the Romanian Film Centre, the Film Centre of Serbia, the Slovenian Film Centre, and the MEDIA Sub-programme of Creative Europe for project development, and in co-production with BH Telecom.

At the press gathering, the importance of BH Content Lab, the largest domestic platform for the production of audio-visual content, was also highlighted, thanks to which a large number of professionals had the opportunity to work and shoot new projects.