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My Aunt in Sarajevo | Goran Kapetanović[/caption]
A total of 13 films, including 6 Q&A and discussion panels with the filmmakers, will screen at the 2017 Bosnian-Herzegovinian Film Festival (
BHFF) running from Wednesday, April 12 through Saturday, April 15 at two Manhattan venues.
Starting things off on Wednesday, April 12 at Anthology Film Archives will be a special screening of Branko Ištvančić documentary feature film Album, a look at the Balkan wars through the memories of photos left behind, followed by a panel discussion on the subject of post-Yugoslav cinema.
The festival’s competition program will be held at SVA Theater on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, from April 13-15, and will consist of four narrative feature films, four narrative shorts and four documentary films. Films in competition are:
Films selected to screen at the 14th Annual BHFF competition program are eligible to win a number of honors including the Golden Apple audience and jury awards.
FEATURE FILMS
Nika | Slobodan Maksimović | 92 min
A young girl’s determination to become a racecar driver against the wishes of her mother evokes themes of teenage rebellion and generationalism.
My Aunt in Sarajevo | Goran Kapetanović | 58 min
An 18-year-old girl convinces her father to take her to the land of his birth, Bosnia, where the pair discovers their roots and comes to terms with the past.
A Good Wife | Mirjana Karanović | 94 min
A woman’s life is shaken when she discovers that her husband may have participated in war crimes.
Death in Sarajevo | Danis Tanović | 85 min
Calamity erupts at a hotel in Sarajevo on the 100th anniversary of Archduke Franz Ferdinand assassination.
DOCUMENTARY FILMS
Cameraperson | Kirsten Johnson | 102 min
Documentarian Kirsten Johnson uses work ranging across her 25-year career to examine the ethics of documentary filmmaking.
City of Elephants | Marko Mijatović | 29 min
The mountains of Bosnia form a stunning backdrop for an exploration into the lives of three people struggling to make a living in an economically-deprived mining town.
Man With the Will of Steel | Amar Spahic | 16 min
Nadir Hajro defies the odds by fighting through his cerebral palsy to become a bodybuilder.
No Smoking in Sarajevo | Gianluca Loffredo | 75 min
The iconic Bosnian rock band No Smoking is examined with rare footage in a look at one of the most famous bands in Bosnia and the former Yugoslavia.
NARRATIVE SHORT FILMS
Game | Senad Alihodžić | 7 min
A man’s daily routine is shaken up when he becomes entangled in a unique and surreal game.
Refugee 532 | Goran Kapetanović | 14 min
A young refugee living alone in Sweden must adopt to his new country while seeking news from his family in Bosnia.
I Remember | Elma Tataragić | 15 min
A woman repeatedly returns to her family home, probing her own memories and grappling with her recollections of the beginning of the Bosnian War.
The Dragon | Ivan Ramadan | 10 min
Innovative animation methods explore the myths of Bosnia through the journey of the legendary dragon Aždaja.
The 2017 edition of the BHFF will also introduce a new jury award for Best Acting Performance, awarded to an actor or actress in a lead or supporting role in any of the narrative short and feature films. The nominees for the BHFF 2017 Jury Award for Best Acting Performance are:
Milan Dragišić, lead actor in the role of Zlatan in “My Aunt in Sarajevo”
Sadžida Šetić, supporting actress in the role of Radmila in “My Aunt in Sarajevo”
Mirjana Karanović, lead actress in the role of Milena in “A Good Wife”
Alena Džebo, lead actress in the unnamed role in “I Remember”
Snežana Vidović, lead actress in the role of Lamija in “Death in Sarajevo”
Faketa Salihbegović-Avdagić, supporting actress in the role of Hatidža in “Death in Sarajevo”
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A Good Wife, Mirjana Karanović, 2017 Bosnian-Herzegovinian Film Festival[/caption]
A Good Wife, Mirjana Karanović’s story of a woman whose life is shaken when she discovers a video that implicates her husband Vlada in war crimes, won the Golden Apple Jury Award for Best Feature at 2017 Bosnian-Herzegovinian Film Festival (BHFF) in New York City. Mirjana Karanović also won the BHFF’s first ever Jury Award for Best Acting Performance for her role inA Good Wife.
A Good Wife is a powerful film that was awarded for relevant, timely and brave script, an important theme and skillfully executed storytelling and cinematography.
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NO SMOKING IN SARAJEVO, Gianluca Loffredo – 14th Annual Bosnian-Herzegovinian Film Festival Awards Presentation[/caption]
No Smoking In Sarajevo, Gianluca Loffredo’s retrospective on iconic Bosnian rock band No Smoking, and the unique period that ushered in the region’s comic and sharp-edged New Primitivism movement, won the BHFF 2017 Golden Apple Jury Award for Best Documentary.
No Smoking In Sarajevo was awarded for a perceptive storytelling and weaving of a complex and subtle narrative, from an outsider looking into a tragic story that is symbolic of so many breakups of the last 25 years.
Goran Kapetanović’s Refugee 532, in which twelve-year-old refugee Sevko must adapt to his new life in Sweden while overcoming adversity and waiting for news from home, won the BHFF 2017 Golden Apple Jury Award for Best Short Film.
Refugee 532 is wonderfully cast and with satisfying script and emotional performances, a story that not only speaks of our recent past but also of our global present.
Danis Tanović’s Death In Sarajevo, a biting satire mirroring the precariousness of modern Europe, won the BHFF 2017 Golden Apple Audience Award for Best Picture.
Films receiving Jury Awards were selected by the official BHFF 2017 Jury, an expert panel, comprised of renowned photojournalist Ron Haviv; filmmaker and author Zlata Filipović, and acclaimed costume designer Amela Bakšić.
Captain Fantastic[/caption]
The 2016 Provincetown International Film Festival (