Adapting to Troubled Times, Sarajevo Film Festival Reflects a Region’s Resilience

Rebecca Davis editorCambodian director Rithy Panh survived the brutal Khmer Rouge regime that took the lives of many of his friends and family.

Leo Barraclough Senior International CorrespondentLondon-based production, finance and sales company Film Constellation has come on board Cathy Brady’s debut feature “Wildfire,” which world premieres in the Discovery section at next month’s Toronto Film Festival.The film centers on sisters Lauren and Kelly, an inseparable pair brought up in a small town by the Irish border. Their lives fell apart with the mysterious death of their mother.

Ellise Shafer editorDanish actor Mads Mikkelsen — best known for his skillful and distinctly human portrayal of dark characters in films like “The Hunt,” and “Casino Royale” as well as the television series “Hannibal” — trained as a dancer before enrolling in acting classes.“I loved every second of it.

As we start to look past the nightmare that has been 2020 and look forward to a (slightly) more hopeful 2021, we’ll start hearing of the winter film festivals’ plans soon. First, it was Sundance announcing plans for a shorter edition of the festival, still taking place in person.

The Venice Film Festival, the first major in-person cinema showcase of the COVID-19 era, is requiring participants to wear face masks during screenings and take a coronavirus test if they are arriving from outside Europe. According to guidelines published Thursday, fans and the general public will be kept away from the red carpet during the Sept.

Tom Grater International Film ReporterAfter being forced to pivot entirely online last-minute due to a COVID spike, Bosnia’s Sarajevo Film Festival is coming to a close and has unveiled its prize winners for this year’s edition.A jury chaired by Michel Hazanavicius and featuring Berlinale director Carlo Chatrian, actress Jadranka Đokić, director Srdan Golubović and the Morelia Film Festival’s Andrea Stavenhagen, awarded the festival’s top prize, the Heart of Sarajevo, to Visar Morina’s Exile.

Alexandra Del Rosario Associate Editor/Nights & WeekendsThe IFP Gotham Awards on Thursday opened submissions for its 30th annual awards show, which last month shifted to January 2021 because of the pandemic. Organizers also said today that they are introducing a new category, Best International Feature, a director and producers award in which the key roles of director, producer and screenwriter should be based outside the U.S.

Christopher Vourlias Visar Morina’s “Exile,” a tense psychodrama about a Kosovan pharmacologist in Germany who becomes increasingly paranoid over a series of menacing events, won the top prize at the Sarajevo Film Festival, earning the Kosovo-born German director the Heart of Sarajevo.The award ceremony took place online Thursday night, with Morina winning top honors from a jury led by Academy Award-winning director Michel Hazanavicius (“The Artist”) and comprised of Carlo Chatrian, artistic

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Christopher Vourlias Bosnian director Pjer Žalica recently found himself standing before Sarajevo’s National Theater, which in less troubled times would have hosted the world premiere of his comic drama “Focus, Grandma”—the opening film of the 26th edition of the Sarajevo Film Festival. “In front of the theater, there is this red carpet and nothing else,” Žalica told Variety.

David Cronenberg is still sour about how his 1996 classic “Crash” was received upon release.

was forced to scrub this year’s edition due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Tribeca Film Festival has announced it will return in 2021.

Danielle Turchiano Senior Features Editor, TVAsk any handful of cinephiles and television heads about their favorite performance from Eugene Levy’s almost five-decade-long career, and you likely won’t receive the same answer twice.From his days in the 1970s with the Second City improv troupe in Toronto that turned into “SCTV” in the 1970s, to partnering with Christopher Guest for a series of mockumentaries, including “Waiting for Guffman,” “Best in Show” and a “Mighty Wind” in the 1990s and

Tom Grater International Film ReporterOrganizers of the Sarajevo Film Fesitval, which was set to be one of the first international film festivals to take place in a meaningful physical form this summer, have made a late decision to shift the event entirely to online after a spike of infections in Bosnia.The fest had been due to take place August 14 – 21 in the Bosnian capital and the team have been bullish for months that it would be able to stage events in person despite widespread

Leo Barraclough Senior International CorrespondentThe Sarajevo Film Festival has shifted this year’s edition online, abandoning plans for a mostly physical event, as COVID 19 rates surge in Bosnia.In a statement, the organizers said the decision “confirms the Sarajevo Film Festival’s responsibility and commitment to its community.” The fest will run Aug. 14-21 as planned.The world premiere of “Focus, Grandma,” helmed by Bosnian director Pjer Žalica, opens the festival’s program.

New films from Tilda Swinton and Regina King will be headlining the Venice Film Festival this September.

Tom Grater International Film ReporterEXCLUSIVE: Hans Fraikin was the founding commissioner of the Quebec Film and TV Council, where during his tenure the region saw $1.5BN in inward investment, staging shoots for titles including 300 and X-Men: Apocalypse, as well as becoming a world leader in animation.Now, he has set up shop in Abu Dhabi in the UAE, the Middle East city which is attempting to establish itself as a global hub for film and TV shoots.

Ever since its announcement as part of this year’s Cannes Film Festival Official Selections, Steve McQueen’s “Small Axe” anthology series from Amazon has been positioned as one of the 2020 fall festival darlings. And it appears that is playing out at this year’s New York Film Festival, which will not only debut a feature-length episode of the anthology as its Opening Night film but will also showcase two additional episodes as part of the main slate.

Also Read: Toronto Film Festival Lineup to Include Films Directed by Regina King, Halle BerryNYFF this year will host outdoor and virtual screenings with some indoor screenings as possible as directed by state and health officials.