29/07/2024 - Yurt, Forever-Forever and Last Swim shine among the winning features, and An Orange from Jaffa among the short films

The 16th edition of the Youth Film Festival Sarajevo concluded on 26 July. Over eight days, more than 60 films from 18 countries were screened at two indoor and two outdoor cinemas, along with the celebration of the OFF Pro Film Market and more than 100 accredited guests from all across the Europe. The organisers have claimed that this was the largest edition of the festival and that they were happy to have hosted the largest youth film festival in Southeast Europe.

Awards were given in several categories. In the OFF Generation Features category, three awards were presented: the award for best film went to Nehir Tuna’s Yurt [+see also:
film review
interview: Nehir Tuna
film profile], the jury prize was awarded to Anna Buryachkova’s Forever-Forever [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Anna Buryachkova
film profile], and a special mention was given to Sasha Nathwani’s Last Swim [+see also:
film review
interview: Sasha Nathwani
film profile].

In the OFF Generation Shorts category, the award for best short film was given to the Palestinian film An Orange from Jaffa, directed by Mohammed Almughanni.

A special award was given to the Spanish film Daydreaming So Vividly About Our Spanish Holidays by Christian Avilés for its innovative and courageous language. A special mention was also given to the Belgian film Invincible Summer, by Arnaud Dufeys, and to its young and talented lead actor Charles Lebrun. The awards for the best regional film went to Eat Me by Mima Miljković (Serbia) and Let Them Talk by Karlo Gagulić (Croatia).

Earlier in the festival, special awards were given, such as the best actor and actress in series awards, with Lazar Dragojević winning the former, and Mirela Balić, an actress in the globally popular Netflix series Elite, grabbing the latter.

On 24 July, the festival announced the winners of the OFF Pro Film Market. The jury, consisting of director Faruk Lončarević, producers Morana Ikić Komljenović and Zdenka Gold, VERN University film dean Ozana Ramljak, and distributor Zahra Benasri, decided on the best projects.

The awards:

OFF Generation Features

Best Film
Yurt [+see also:
film review
interview: Nehir Tuna
film profile] - Nehir Tuna (Turkey/Germany/France)

Jury Prize
Forever-Forever [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Anna Buryachkova
film profile] - Anna Buryachkova (Ukraine/Netherlands)

Special Mention
Last Swim [+see also:
film review
interview: Sasha Nathwani
film profile] - Sasha Nathwani (UK)

OFF Generation Shorts

Best Short Film
An Orange from Jaffa - Mohammed Almughanni (France/Palestine/Poland)

Special Award
Daydreaming So Vividly About Our Spanish Holidays - Christian Avilés (Spain)

Special Mention
Invincible Summer - Arnaud Dufeys (Belgium)

Best Acting
Charles Lebrun - Invincible Summer

Best Regional Film
Eat Me - Mima Miljković (Serbia)
Let Them Talk - Karlo Gagulić (Croatia)

OFF Pro Film Market

Best Projects
Teeth - Lyubo Yonchev (Bulgaria)
All Hell Broke Loose the Day Before - Nur Sultan Bulut (Turkey)
Nikola, Nikola - Leon Ristov (Macedonia)

Gorila Distribution film distribution strategy award
Nikola, Nikola - Leon Ristov

Telemach BH Video on Demand distribution award
Baklava - Faris Šabanija (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Manaki Brothers Festival invitation
Imaginary Numbers - Jelica Jerinic (Serbia)