SARAJEVO: The already fragile film industry of Bosnia and Herzegovina has been severely shaken by the COVID-19 pandemic. The cinema attendance dropped by 70% compared to 2019 results, almost all production has been moved to 2021 and, as there is still no Cinema Law or Film Centre in the country, filmmakers could only count on themselves to try and weather the storm.

SARAJEVO: The total 2020 box office in Bosnia and Herzegovina dropped by 70%, as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the domestic box office showed a 786% growth, from 4,425 EUR / 8,654 KM in 2019 to 39,224 EUR / 76,715.5 KM. Admissions to domestic films increased by 438% from 2,322 in 2019 to 12,499 in 2020.

SARAJEVO: The Cinema Meeting Point on Demand platform, which bowed at the 2020 Sarajevo Film Festival, has been launched as an online distribution platform. The platform is a venture of Obala Art Centar.

BANJA LUKA: The Ministry of Education and Culture of the Republic of Srpska has announced the recipients of its grants for film projects. Srpska is one of the two entities making up the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

SARAJEVO: Bosnian film and TV world has lost one of the most prominent actors: Mustafa Nadarević. He died at his home in Zagreb on 22 November 2020 from COVID-19 after a very brief illness.

SARAJEVO: The CineStar Sarajevo multiplex opened in the new Bingo City Center mall on 30 October 2020. CineStar's sixth multiplex is also the biggest one in the country with 10 screens and a total seating capacity of 1414.

SARAJEVO: Domestic films are having a surprise resurgence in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with Jasmila Žbanić’s Quo Vadis, Aida? on top of the box office for three weeks running.

SARAJEVO: Film Fund Sarajevo allocated 1,230,000 KM / 81,800 EUR to nine features, 14 short films, three minority coproductions and nine projects in development.

SARAJEVO: Exile by Visar Morina, a coproduction between Germany, Belgium and Kosovo, has been awarded the Heart of Sarajevo for Best Feature Film at the 26th Sarajevo Film Festival (14-21 August 2020).  A total of 49 films were selected for the four competition sections: feature, documentary, short and student films.

SARAJEVO: Adi Voicu, whose short film The Last Trip To The Seaside (Axel Film, 2019) premiered in Cannes Film Festival’s Semaine de la Critique in 2019 and won Special Mention at the Sarajevo Film Festival, returns to the Festival and the CineLink Co-production Market, held online from 15 till 20 August 2020, with his debut feature Capturing Sami.