Sarajevo Prepares to Shine for Film Festival Jubilee

Bosnia's capital will become a "city that does not sleep" for eight days in the second half of this month, as it celebrates the silver jubilee of the much-loved Sarajevo Film Festival.

The fun starts with a street parade on August 16, marking the opening of the festival, after which 270 films from 56 countries will be shown over the following eight days.

The festival is promising a more than usually spectacular line-up. Some 68 movies will be having their world premieres, while 12 will be having their first screenings outside of the country they were produced in.

Some 53 movies will compete for the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo (Počasno Srce Sarajeva), the Festival's annual award.

A Bosnian co-production, Sin (the son] will open the festival on Friday, produced by Ines Tanovic, the highly regarded film producer who was a Bosnian candidate for the Academy Awards in 2015.

The film, which gets its world premiere, tells the story of the life and relationships of a four-member Sarajevo family who have one biological son and one adopted one.

"We are expecting a big festival this year - a record number of films - 270 - a record number of films submitted," Andrijana Copf, spokesperson for SFF, told BIRN.

"What we see with online ticket sales is that new records are being set. We see that the audience interest is very high, so in that sense, we expect a real special edition of the festival," Copf added.

Banner with the logo of Sarajevo Film Festival. Photo courtesy of N1

She also confirmed that one of the special guests will be Mexican actor and director Gael Garcia Bernal, who won the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo award in 2014. Garcia Bernal will this year present his directorial feature, Chicuarotes,