Presided over by Mexican director, writer and producer Michel Franco, the Jury of the Competition Programme – Feature Film for the 23rd Sarajevo Film Festival comprises prominent filmmakers, actors and film professionals from five countries.

The jury will determine the winners of the the Heart of Sarajevo Awards, which will be announced on 17 August at the Awards Ceremony at the National Theatre.

The Sarajevo Film Festival is proud to present the Jury of the Competition Programme – Feature Film:

President of the Jury: MICHEL FRANCO, Director/Writer/Producer (Mexico)

MARK ADAMS, Artistic Director of Edinburgh International Film Festival (UK)

GORAN BOGDAN, Actor (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia)

FATMA AL REMAIHI, Chief Executive Officer of Doha Film Institute (Qatar)

MELISA SÖZEN, Actress (Turkey)

Co-organized by the Polish Film Institute, Polish Days is the most important industry event at the T-Mobile New Horizons IFF. Polish Days will take place on August 8-10, 2017 during the 17th T-Mobile New Horizons International Film Festival (August 3-13, 2017).

We are happy to announce our partners for this year's event.

We will be joined by five film comissions this year: the Wroclaw Film Comission; the Mazovia Warsaw Film Comission; the Łódź Film Comission, which is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Łódź Film Fund; the Krakow Film Comission, a partner of LIM - Less is More - the European platform for project development of limited-budget feature films; and the Podkarpackie Film Commission. 

We will be partnering with EAVE for the second time, which, together with the Polish Film Institute, will provide a grant to a Polish producer and Polish film project in development, which will cover the costs of participation in the prestigious EAVE Producers Workshop in 2018.

Our post-production partners, Coloroffon Film and Aeroplan Studios, will give awards to selected projects in the form of preferential terms for image and sound post-production.

We will also be partnering with the National Audiovisual Institute (FINA), which was established on June 1, 2017 when the National Film Archive merged with the National Audiovisual Institute.

FINA's work involves the collection, cataloging, restoration and sharing of collections and documentary materials related to both Polish and international audiovisual heritage, including film, as well as the co-creation, production, recording and promotion of high-level cultural works for broadcast through public and private media. FINA also conducts activities in the areas of education, cultural promotion and publishing as well as using new technologies (including the Internet) to promote audiovisual culture.

Media partners: Film & TV Kamera, Film Pro and Film New Europe.

The 2017 edition of Polish Days will take place August 8-10 during the 17th T-Mobile New Horizons International Film Festival (August 3-13, 2017). This year's event will feature 5 completed films, 9 as part of a presentation of works in progress and 11 projects in development.

Full list of selected films:

Completed films 
Panic Attack (Atak paniki), dir. Paweł Maślona
Wild Roses (Dzikie róże), dir. Anna Jadowska
Thrice Falls the Saint (Trzy upadki świętego), dir. Jacek Januszyk
Tower. A Bright Day (Wieża. Jasny dzień), dir. Jagoda Szelc
The Reconciliation (Zgoda), dir. Maciej Sobieszczański

Works in progress
Silent Night (Cicha noc), dir. Piotr Domalewski
A Coach’s Daughter (Córka trenera), dir. Łukasz Grzegorzek
The Man with the Magic Box (Człowiek z magicznym pudełkiem), dir. Bodo Kox
The Fastest (Najlepszy), dir. Łukasz Palkowski
The Mute (Niemy), dir. Bartek Konopka
Nina, dir. Olga Chajdas
Back Home (Powrót), dir. Magdalena Łazarkiewicz
The Art of Understanding (Sztuka zrozumienia), dir. Matej Bobrik
Speedway (Żużel), dir. Dorota Kędzierzawska

Pitchings
Bailout, Folks! dir. Marek Lechki
Corpus Christi (Boże ciało), dir. Jan Komasa
Dark, Almost Nighttime (Ciemno, prawie noc), dir. Borys Lankosz
Fisheye, dir. Michał Szcześniak
The Hunter’s Son, dir. Ricky Rijneke
Kalina, dir. Katarzyna Klimkiewicz
Neon Tears (Kolorowe łzy), dir. Karolina Bielawska
Lipstick on the Glass, dir. Kuba Czekaj
Pilot 9/11, dir. Norman Leto
Sweat, dir. Magnus von Horn
The War Has Ended, dir. Hagar Ben Asher

Some 150 professionals from Poland and abroad have already confirmed their participation, including programmers from numerous international festivals, sales agents, distributors and film producers.

As part of the event, industry representatives from around the world attend closed screenings to learn about the latest Polish films at every stage of production: they watch completed films and fragments at the post-production stage, and they also listen to pitchings about projects in production. Polish Days is an excellent opportunity for producers and filmmakers to promote their projects and to find foreign partners. During the selection process, the organizers choose the most interesting films currently being made in the Polish market. Projects presented in past years included, among others, Spoor, The Last Family, The Birds Are Singing in Kigali, All These Sleepless Nights, Warsaw '44, Papusza, Floating Skyscrapers and Congress. This year, Polish Days offers guests an opportunity to learn about new projects by filmmakers such as Kuba Czekaj, Borys Lankosz, Dorota Kędzierzawska, Łukasz Palkowski, Magnus Von Horn, Katarzyna Klimkiewicz and Norman Leto.

Organized since 2013 in cooperation with the Polish Film Institute, Polish Days is the most important industry event at the T-Mobile New Horizons International Film Festival.

Polish Days is co-organized by the Polish Film Institute. Event partners include the Wrocław Film Commission, the Mazovia Warsaw Film Commission, the Łódź Film Commission, the Krakow Film Commission, the Podkarpackie Film Commission, the National Audiovisual Institute, EAVE, Coloroffon and Aeroplan Studios. Media partners include Film Pro, Film New Europe and Film & TV Kamera.

More on New Horizons IFF Polish Days and other industry events can be found here.

Sarajevo Film Festival proudly presents Competition Programme – Feature Film and In Focus.

Two selections, which brings exciting crossover of South East European cinema, were unveiled at the press conference held on Tuesday in Sarajevo.

Sarajevo Film Festival is honored to pay tribute to the preeminent filmmaker Oliver Stone, who will also receive Honorary Heart of Sarajevo Award for his extraordinary contribution to the art of film at the 23rd edition of the Festival.

Read more

This section consists of 17 films from around the globe excluding the Southeastern European territories which compose the festival’s competition strand.

Read more

For the list of films, please click here.
For the Box Office info, please click here.

Digital Single Market
11/07: Mariya Gabriel is the new Commissioner for the Digital Economy and Society – European Commission
Mariya Gabriel has been appointed as the new Member of the European Commission for the Digital Economy and Society. Her candidacy was proposed by the Bulgarian Government as Commissioner to replace former Member of the Commission Kristalina Georgieva.

11/07: European Copyright: Parliament committees vote for an unwaivable right to fair remuneration for audiovisual authors – SAA 
The European Parliament Industry and Culture committees voted in favour of an unwaivable right to fair remuneration for authors and performers for the making available of their works. Supported by the European audiovisual authors’ community, such a remuneration right would ensure that screenwriters and directors receive royalties when their works are exploited on on-demand services, wherever in Europe, thanks to its collective mechanism. 

11/07: A loss for culture and research in today’s copyright votes by Pirate MEP Julia Reda – Julia Reda’s website
The Committee for Culture and Education (CULT) and the Committee for Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) ceirtainly didn’t prioritize culture, education or research in today’s copyright votes, highlights MEP Julia Reda.

Audiovisual Media Services Directive 

/07:  Mandate to the Culture committee on a new directive on audiovisual media services – IRIS newsletter
The European Parliament gave a mandate to the Committee on Culture and Education to begin talks with the European Council on a new directive on audiovisual media services in view of changing market realities. 

Events 

8/09: Conference "Best practices in the fight against counterfeiting & piracy – the role and responsibility of advertising, logistic and financial service providers", Switzerland – more information here 

3/4/09: European Film Forum in Venice – more information here