The Georgia film Scary Mother directed by Ani Urushadze, was awarded the Heart of Sarajevo for Best Film at the 2017 Sarajevo Film Festival. In the film, Manana, a 50-year-old housewife, struggles with a dilemma – she has to choose between her family life and her passion for writing, which she has repressed for years. She decides to follow her passion and plunges herself into writing, sacrificing everything to it, both mentally and physically.
The award for Best Documentary went to City of the Sun, directed by Rati Oneli. City of the Sun portrays a few of the remaining inhabitants of the mining city of Chiatura, in western Georgia. Up to 50 percent of the world’s manganese, a vital metal across the globe, used to be mined here, but today, it resembles an apocalyptic ghost town. Music teacher Zurab dismantles ramshackle concrete buildings by hand and sells the iron girders to make some money on the side. Archil still works in the mine, but his real passion is the local amateur theatre group. Despite being malnourished, two young female athletes train stoically for the next Olympic Games.
Actor and comedian John Cleese, best known as a member of the famous comedy team Monty Python’s Flying Circus, received the honorary lifetime achievement award. “I accept it not as a film person, but more as a comedian because I think at this time in world history, we’ve never needed comedians more,” Cleese said.
2017 Sarajevo Film Festival Awards
COMPETITION PROGRAM – FEATURE FILM
HEART OF SARAJEVO FOR BEST FEATURE FILM
SCARY MOTHER / SASHISHI DEDA
Georgia, Estonia
Director: Ana Urushadze
Producer: Lasha Khalvashi
HEART OF SARAJEVO FOR BEST DIRECTOR
EMANUEL PÂRVU
MEDA OR THE NOT SO BRIGHT SIDE OF THINGS / MEDA SAU PARTEA NU PREA FERICITĂ A LUCRURILOR
Romania
SPECIAL JURY MENTION
DIRECTIONS / POSOKI
Bulgaria, Germany, Macedonia
Director: Stephan Komandarev
HEART OF SARAJEVO FOR BEST ACTRESS
Ornela Kapetani, DAYBREAK / DITA ZË FILL
HEART OF SARAJEVO FOR BEST ACTOR
Şerban Pavlu, MEDA OR THE NOT SO BRIGHT SIDE OF THINGS / MEDA SAU PARTEA NU PREA FERICITĂ A LUCRURILOR
COMPETITION PROGRAM – SHORT FILM
HEART OF SARAJEVO FOR BEST SHORT FILM
INTO THE BLUE / U PLAVETNILO
Croatia, Slovenia
Director: Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović
Financial Award, in the amount of 2.500 €.
SPECIAL JURY MENTION
SOA
Montenegro
Director: Dušan Kasalica
SPECIAL JURY MENTION
COPA – LOCA
Greece
Director: Christos Massalas
COMPETITION PROGRAM – STUDENT FILM
HEART OF SARAJEVO FOR BEST STUDENT FILM
CLEAN / ČISTOĆA
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Director: Neven Samardžić
SPECIAL JURY MENTION
LJUBLJANA – MÜNCHEN 15:27 / LJUBLJANA – MUNICH 15:27
Slovenia
Director: Katarina Morano
COMPETITION PROGRAM – DOCUMENTARY FILM
HEART OF SARAJEVO FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM
CITY OF THE SUN / MZIS QALAQI
Georgia, USA, Qatar, Netherlands
Director: Rati Oneli
SPECIAL JURY PRIZE FOR COMPETITION PROGRAM DOCUMENTARY FILM
KINDERS
Austria
Directors: Arash T. Riahi, Arman T. Riahi
SPECIAL JURY MENTION
HOME / DOM
Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Director: Zdenko Jurilj
HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD
MR. GAY SYRIA
Turkey, France, Germany
Director: Ayse Toprak
Best film of the Competition Programme – Documentary Film dealing with the subject of human rights.
HONORARY HEART OF SARAJEVO
John Cleese, Actor
Oliver Stone, Director
CINELINK AWARDS
CINELINK CO-PRODUCTION MARKET AWARDS
EURIMAGES COPRODUCTION DEVELOPMENT AWARD
HALF-SISTER
Director: Damjan Kozole
Writers: Damjan Kozole, Urša Menart
Producer: Danijel Hočevar
Production company: Vertigo
Slovenia
MACEDONIAN FILM AGENCY CINELINK AWARD
HOLY EMY
Director: Araceli Lemos
Writers: Araceli Lemos, Gulia Caruso
Producers: Elina Psykou, Giulia Caruso, Konstantinos Vassilaros
Production company: StudioBauhaus
Greece
ARTE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS CINELINK AWARD
CAT IN THE WALL
Directors: Mina Mileva, Vesela Kazakova
Writer: Mina Mileva
Producers: Mina Mileva, Vesela Kazakova
Production company: Activist38
Bulgaria
SPECIAL MENTION
THE GREAT TRAM ROBBERY
Director: Slobodan Šijan
Writers: Slobodan Šijan, Biljana Maksić, Vladimir Mančić
Producer: Marko Paljić
Production company: Gargantua Films
Serbia
MDM EAVE SCHOLARSHIP
Konstantinos Vassilaros / HOLY EMY
WORK IN PROGRESS AWARDS
TRT AWARD
HONEYLAND
Directors: Ljubo Stefanov, Tamara Kotevska
Producers: Ljubo Stefanov, Atanas Georgiev
Production company: Apollo Media, Trice Films
Macedonia
POST REPUBLIC AWARD
THE DAY AFTER I’M GONE
Director: Nimrod Eldar
Producer: Eitan Mansuri
Production company: Spiro Films Ltd
Israel
RESTART AWARD
WHAT COMES AROUND
Director: Reem Saleh
Producers: Reem Saleh, Konstantina Stavrianou
Production company: Mazameer Productions
Lebanon / Egypt / Qatar
CINELINK DRAMA AWARD
FILM CENTER SERBIA CINELINK DRAMA AWARD
ALL PANTHERS ARE PINK / SVI PANTERI SU PINK
Creators: Titus Kreyenberg, Miroslav Mogorović
Writer: Dimitrije Vojnov
Director: TBC
Producers: Titus Kreyenberg, Miroslav Mogorović
Production company: Unafilm, Art & Popcorn
Germany, Serbia
SPECIAL MENTION
GLYCERIN / GLICERIN
Creators: Ivan Knežević, Miloš Pušić
Writers: Ivan Knežević, Miloš Pušić
Director: Miloš Pušić
Producers: Ivan Knežević, Miloš Pušić
Production company: Altertise
Serbia
23rd SARAJEVO FILM FESTIVAL PARTNER’S AWARDS
AWARDS OF ASSOCIATION OF BOSNIAN FILMMAKERS
Ivica Matić Award
Redžinald Šimek
Ivica Matić Award
Tomislav Topić
Ivica Matić Award
Action Group of the Association of Bosnian Filmmakers for copyrights (Pjer Žalica, Jovan Marjanović, Elma Tataragić and Amar Nović)
CINEUROPA NAGRADA
SCARY MOTHER / SASHISHI DEDA
Director: Ana Urushadze
CICAE NAGRADA
SON OF SOFIA / O GIOS TIS SOFIAS
Director: Elina Psykou
THE EUROPEAN DOCUMENTARY NETWORK – TALENT GRANT
WHEN PIGS COME
Director: Biljana Tutorov
SARAJEVO SHORT FILM NOMINEE FOR EUROPAN FIOM AWARDS 2017
COPA-LOCA
Director: Christos Massalas
BEST PACK & PITCH AWARD (TALENTS SARAJEVO PACK & PITCH)
SIRIN
Senad Šahmanović – invitation for participation in the co-production market CineLink
PINKLER
Patricia D’Intino
The postproduction of sound services in the amount of 4.000 EUR (studio Chelia)
BH FILM STUDENT PROGRAMME AWARD
Best B&H Student Film Award
TO OUTLIVE A TURTLE / NADŽIVETI KORNJAČU
Director: Katarina Živanović
Fakultet dramskih i filmskih umjetnosti Bijeljina
Special Jury Award
CLEAN / ČISTOĆA
Director: Neven Samardžić
Akademija scenskih umjetnosti Sarajevo
Special Mention
WINTER SUN / ZIMSKO SUNCE
Director: Pilar Palomero
Sarajevo Film Academy
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