The festival started with the screening of Circus Columbia, a story about a man who returns to Bosnia from Germany with the hopes of a good life. The week-long programme consisted of both regional and international films such as Tilda Ros, Yo Tambien, Woody Allen’s You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger and the Oscar-winning film about Nelson Mandela, Invictus. The latter was shown at the closing ceremony at the festival, and the movie’s lead actor, Morgan Freeman, was present as the festival’s guest of honor.
There has been an increasing interest and positive response to films from Southeastern Europe, not only feature films, but also short films. Each year new directors, producers and scriptwriters get an excellent opportunity to present their film to a large audience of film enthusiasts through the Sarajevo Talent Campus. The Talent Campus provides a space where short films are presented, screened and discussed. The theme of the 4th Talent Campus was “Storytelling – From Your Backyard to the World”, and focused on the process of creation of a film story.
Through a series of presentations, screenings and lectures, the Talent Campus aims to explain the audience what a short film is and show examples of successful contemporary regional and European film. The Norwegian Embassy has through several years financially supported this important aspect of the festival, as it brings together film enthusiasts from all over the region and plays an important role in promoting regional films to the rest of Europe. Other supporters of the Talent Campus were the Ministry of Culture and Sports of the Federation of BiH, US Embassy Office of Public Affairs and Film Center Serbia.
This year the festival had five Norwegian feature films included in the programme:
Vegas, by Gunnar Vikene, is a story about three teenagers, Thomas, Marianne and Terje. Thomas gets sent to a child care facility after witnessing his mother being beaten up. Here he meets Marianne and Terje, two teenagers with deep problems. They find out they share a common dream, and together embark on a journet of love, hate and trust. Although none of them end up in the place they thought they would, but they all find a home.
A Somewhat Gentleman, by Hans Petter Moland, is a story about a man who, after serving a 12-year sentence for killing a man for sleeping with his wife, wonders whether he should try and reconcile with his family, or take revenge on those who turned him in.
Elias and the Royal Yacht, by Espen Fyksen and Lise I. Osvoll, is an animated feature film about the little rescue boat Elias and his mission to find the missing Royal Yacht. The film is based on a popular Norwegian TV show for children.
Magic Silver, by Roar Uthaug and Kataring Launing, is the story about Princess Bluerose, a small gnome living deep in the Norwegian mountains. It isbased on the popular Norwegian television series Jul i Blåfjell (1999) and Jul på Månetoppen (2002), both considered classic Christmas series.
Kurt Turns Evil, by Rasmus A. Sivertsen, is a story about Kurt, who goes from being a happy truckdriver who is satisfied with his life, to a miserable man ashamed of his profession, desperately seeking success and money.
The festival lasted for one week, from 23 - 31 July, and as one director proclaimed at the closing ceremony – we are already looking forward to the next one.