Sarajevo Film Festival Winners: ‘Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry’ Takes Top Honors

Zac Ntim
·4 min read

Georgian filmmaker Elene Naveriani clinched the Best Feature Award in the main international competition of the 29th Sarajevo Film Festival with her latest pic Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry. The award comes with a €16,000 cash prize.

The film also picked up the Best Actress award for Ekaterine Chavleishvili, which comes with a €2,500 cash prize. Overall, eleven films battled it out in the main competition, and Mia Wasikowska’s jury—including MoMA Film Head Josh Siegel, actor Zlatko Burić, actress Danica Ćurčić, and director Juraj Lerotić, spread the love quite widely.

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The Ukrainian pic La Palisiada won the Best Director Award for Philip Sotnychenko, while Jovan Ginić won the Best Actor prize for the Serbian film Lost Country. In the festival’s documentary section, the top prize went to Bottlemen by Slovenian director Nemanja Vojinović.

Check out the full list of winners below:

Honorary Heart of Sarajevo
Mark Cousins, director and screenwriter
Lynne Ramsay, director, screenwriter, and producer
Charlie Kaufman, screenwriter, director, and producer

The Honorary Heart of Sarajevo is awarded in recognition of exceptional contribution to the art of film.

COMPETITION PROGRAMME – FEATURE FILM
President of the Jury:
Mia Wasikowska (Actor, Director, Australia)
Members of the Jury:
Zlatko Burić (Actor, Croatia, Denmark)
Danica Čurčić (Actor, Serbia, Denmark)
Juraj Lerotić (Director, Actor, Croatia)
Josh Siegel (Curator of MoMA’s Department of Film, USA)

HEART OF SARAJEVO FOR BEST FEATURE FILM
BLACKBIRD BLACKBIRD BLACKBERRY
Georgia, Switzerland
Director: Elene Naveriani
Producer: Britta Rindelaub, Thomas Reichlin, Ketie Danelia
The monetary prize in the amount of €16,000 is co-funded by the Tourism Association of Canton Sarajevo.

HEART OF SARAJEVO FOR BEST DIRECTOR
Philip Sotnychenko, LA PALISIADA
Ukraine
The monetary prize in the amount of €10,000 is sponsored by the United Nations in Bosnia and Herzegovina in cooperation with UNESCO.

HEART OF SARAJEVO FOR BEST ACTRESS
Ekaterine Chavleishvili, BLACKBIRD BLACKBIRD BLACKBERRY
Georgia, Switzerland
Monetary prize in the amount of €2,500.

HEART OF SARAJEVO FOR BEST ACTOR
Jovan Ginić, LOST COUNTRY
Serbia, France, Croatia, Luxembourg, Qatar
Monetary prize in the amount of €2,500.

COMPETITION PROGRAMME – DOCUMENTARY FILM

Jury:
Iva Dimitrova (Program Manager at Chicken and Egg Pictures, USA)
Niklas Engstrom (Artistic Director at CPH:Dox, Denmark)
Péter Kerekes (Director, Producer, Slovakia)

HEART OF SARAJEVO FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM
BOTTLEMEN
Serbia, Slovenia
Director: Nemanja Vojinović
The monetary prize in the amount of €4,000 is sponsored by the Government of Switzerland.

HEART OF SARAJEVO FOR BEST SHORT DOCUMENTARY FILM
VALERIJA
Croatia
Director: Sara Jurinčić
Monetary prize in the amount of €2,000.

HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD
SILENCE OF REASON
North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Director: Kumjana Novakova
The Human Rights Award is presented for the best film from the Competition Programme – Documentary Film that addresses human rights issues. The monetary prize in the amount of €3,000 is sponsored by the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

SPECIAL JURY AWARD
FAIRY GARDEN
Hungary, Romania, Croatia
Director: Gergő Somogyvári
Monetary prize in the amount of €2,500.

COMPETITION PROGRAMME – SHORT FILM

Jury:
Turai Balazs (director, animation artist, Hungary)
Nina Rodriguez (Head of Programming at Guanajuato Film Festival, Mexico)
Wim Vanacker (Programmer at Cannes Official Competition Short Film, France)

HEART OF SARAJEVO FOR BEST SHORT FILM – eligible for Oscar® nomination
27
Hungary, France
Director: Flóra Anna Buda
Monetary prize in the amount of €2,500.

COMPETITION PROGRAMME – STUDENT FILM

Jury:
Kumjana Novakova (Programmer, Professor, Producer and Filmmaker, North Macedonia)
Tomek Popakuł (Director, Animation Artist, Poland)
Damir Šagolj (Journalist, Photographer, Director of Photography, Professor at Academy of Performing Arts Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina)

HEART OF SARAJEVO FOR BEST STUDENT FILM
FALLING
Hungary, Belgium, Portugal
Director: Anna Gyimesi
The monetary prize in the amount of €1,000 is sponsored by the Regional Cooperation Council.

JURY SPECIAL MENTION
SHORT CUT GRASS
Croatia
Director: David Gašo

SPECIAL AWARD FOR PROMOTING GENDER EQUALITY

Jury:
Jay Van Hoy (Producer, USA)
Nashen Moodley (Director of the Sydney Film Festival, Australia, South Africa)
Mila Schlingemann (Head of Programming at Eye Filmmuseum, Netherlands)

DE FACTO
Austria, Germany
Director: Selma Doborac
The monetary prize in the amount of €7,500 is sponsored by Mastercard.

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