Georgian film wins big award in Sarajevo

SARAJEVO - Anadolu Agency

The winners of the 19th Sarajevo Film Festival pose at the award ceremony.

The “Heart of Sarajevo” award for the best feature film at 19th Sarajevo Film Festival has been awarded to Georgian movie “In Bloom” by Nana Ekvitimishvili and Simon Grob. The jury was “amazed by this movie,” jury president Danis Tanovic said at the ceremony.

“It is hard to believe that this is somebody’s first feature movie. It is my great pleasure and honor to award this prize to those two authors,” Tanovic said.

Ekvitimishvili and Grob expressed their satisfaction with the award, saying it was a great experience to show the film in Sarajevo and to see the audience reactions.

“This is the first Georgian movie to be screened at the Sarajevo Film Festival and it was an incredible experience to watch it here, to follow the audience reactions, and finally to get this award,” Grob said.

The movie takes places in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi after the collapse of the Soviet Union and its story is based on two teenage girls trying to find their way through the political transition.

Other winners of the Heart of Sarajevo

Meanwhile, the Heart of Sarajevo best male actor award went to Serbian actor Bogdan Diklic for his role in “A Stranger.” “I do not know any other award with such a beautiful name. It is not a golden heart, not silver or diamond, but it is a heart of one city, and that city is Sarajevo. This award is maybe not my favorite but definitely it is a very dear and special one,” Diklic said.

The award for best actress went jointly to Lika Babluani and Mariam Bokeria, two main roles in Georgian film “In Bloom.”

The special award by the competition jury also went to “A Stranger” by Bobo Jelicic. It is a movie about the city of Mostar, to which the director dedicated the award.

The special honorary Heart of Sarajevo award went to Roberto Olla, executive director of Eurimages, the Council of Europe support fund for European cinema, for his contribution to the development of the southeast European cinematography.

“This award is very encouraging for my future and for my career. It is happening in a very special moment in my life when my heart is broken. Now, I have a new heart,” Olla said.

The Heart of Sarajevo for the best short film went to “Shadow of a Cloud” by Radua Jude. The award for the best documentary went to Austrian film “Sickfuckpeople” by Juryja Rechinskog.

The best documentary that deals with human rights went to “Married to Swiss Franc” by Arsen Oremovic, while the special award for documentary, awarded by Al-Jazeera, went to the Konstantinos Georgousis’ “The Cleaners.”