The Bosnian-Herzegovinian Film Festival (BHFF) honored the winning films and filmmakers of the Golden Apple Awards for the 20th annual event with Kiss the Future directed by Nenad Čičin-Šain winning the the Audience Award and Una Gunjak’s Excursion captured the Jury Award for Best Feature Film.
“Excursion is the narrative feature debut of director Una Gunjak, in which she deals with the contemporary theme regarding the coming of age of teenagers, who are going through all the challenges of the modern age while struggling to find their own identity. Featuring an impressive young cast, the film brings a fresh perspective to Bosnian-Herzegovinian cinema with its authorial approach, as it gives voice to young people who are typically not being heard in our world burdened with existential issues.” – BHFF 2024 Official Jury
Kumjana Novakova’s “Silence of Reason” won the BHFF 2024 Jury Award for Best Documentary Film.
“Silence of Reason is a documentary film in which the director and author Kumjana Novakova combines, in an innovative way, photos and videos of the town of Foča from the period before and during the aggression on Bosnia-Herzegovina, and features audio testimonies of women who were victims of brutal rape during the war. Using a groundbreaking and bold approach, this film tackles a story that rarely appears in Bosnian cinema.” – BHFF 2024 Official Jury
Zulfikar Filandra’s “Victory” received the BHFF 2024 Jury Award for Best Short Narrative Film.
“Victory is a short film by the director Zulfikar Filandra, in which he portrays the tension between the locals and the powerful Western outsider in a daring way. Beautifully shot and wonderfully acted, the film draws attention to the manipulative misrepresentation of the daily struggles and life in small town Bosnia-Herzegovina.” – BHFF 2024 Official Jury
Mersiha Husagić was awarded the BHFF 2024 Jury Award for Best Acting Performance for her role as Selma in “Cherry Juice”, which Husagic also wrote and directed.
“In Cherry Juice, which Mersiha Husagić also wrote and directed, she plays Selma, a young Sarajevan woman piecing together a future by collecting the fragments of a shattered past. Selma is a woman Mersiha could have become had a life of displacement and refuge taken a different turn. In a striking performance, Mersiha speaks with all her body, depicting the interiority of a gentle soul and life lived in suspension.” – BHFF 2024 Official Jury
The BHFF 2024 Jury Special Mentions went to Tina Kalinić’s “Heart of Stone”, and Bojan Stojčić’s “Hope Hotel Phantom”.
Artistic Director Amir Husak and Programmer Dijana Jelača say: “This year our festival celebrated its twentieth anniversary by showcasing a rich and diverse slate of films, and by featuring a number of esteemed guests and illuminating conversations. We are proud that BHFF has established itself as a renowned event in New York City’s cultural landscape – it is among the five longest running film festivals in NYC! On behalf of the entire BHFF team, congratulations to the winners and thank you to our guests, jury, donors, and audience members, who showed up in record numbers to support us and make the 20th annual BHFF such a joyful and celebratory event.”
The winners of the BHFF 2024 Golden Apple Jury Awards were selected by this year’s jurors: filmmaker and director of Sarajevo Film Centar Ines Tanović, film composer Erdem Helvacıoğlu, and author and scholar Saida Hodžić.