Béla Tarr will introduce his initiative called "The film.factory" at the Hackesche Höfe Kino cinema on 13 February. The programme at the Sarajevo Film Academy of the Sarajevo School of Science and Technology was developed in collaboration with leading international film artists including Carlos Reygadas, Tilda Swinton, Guy Maddin, Pedro Costa, Gus Van Sant and Fred Kelemen in order to promote an artistic approach to filmmaking. Tarr will be presenting the programme’s work at an event in collaboration with the Arsenal – Institute for Film and Video Art and the Berlinale Forum.

"While there are more and more images everywhere around us, paradoxically, we perceive the increasing devaluation of this beautiful language every day. It is in this context that we are seeking to demonstrate, emphatically and convincingly, the importance of visual culture and the dignity of the image to the coming generation of filmmakers. Our aspiration is to work with mature filmmakers who think responsibly, with the spirit of humanism – artists who have an individual outlook and an individual form of expression, and who use their creative powers in the defence of the dignity of man within the reality that surrounds us. Probing questions concerning our outlook on the world and the state of our civilisation must impact the work of the new programme in Sarajevo,” said Tarr.

The event will include screenings of short films by PhD and MA students at the school. After the presentation, Tarr and the Academy Manager, Emina Ganić, will hold a Q&A session which will be open to all participants.