According to the festival website Sff.ba, Oscar winning director Farhadi, 46, is this year’s president of “Competition Program - Feature Film”.
The Spanish film, which in its world premiere opened the 71st Cannes Film Festival in May, is the story of Laura and her children who travel from Buenos Aires to attend her sister’s wedding in a Spanish village where she was born, but unexpected events lead the gathering towards a crisis which exposes the family’s secret past.
The cast includes Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Ricardo Darín, Eduard Fernández, Bárbara Lennie, Inma Cuesta and Elvira Mínguez.
Chaired by Farhadi, one of the prominent contemporary filmmakers whose accolades include two Oscars, the jury of the Competition Program - Feature Film of this year’s festival comprises internationally renowned filmmakers and artists from Croatia, France, Georgia and the UK.
Croatian actress Judita Franković Brdar, British artistic director of the International Film Festival & Awards Macao (IFFAM) Mike Goodridge, French photographer Brigitte Lacombe, and Georgian writer and director Ana Urushadze are the judges.
Ten films are competing in the competition program from Poland, Romania, Turkey, Croatia and Hungary among others.
The Jury will announce the winners of the Heart of Sarajevo awards on August 16.
A total of 266 films from 56 countries, featuring 52 world and 23 international premieres, are to be screened in the 18 sections of the festival.
Launched in 1995, the SFF has become a major cultural event in the Balkans. It showcases an extensive variety of feature and short films from around the world. The current director of the festival is Mirsad Purivatra, former CEO of the Bosnian branch of McCann Erickson.
Source:Financial Tribune