Sarajevo Film Festival’s industry program, CineLink, kicked off Wednesday. But it wasn’t all work, and no play. Socializing started with drinks at the Industry Terrace at Hotel Europe, hosted with HBO Adria, and culminating with a party at Aquarius Vils, co-hosted by Slovenian Film Center and with Variety magazine as the media partner.
Among the festival guests mingling with the industry crowd were director Atom Egoyan, who is being honored at the festival with a tribute, Michel Franco, director of “Chronic,” Cedomir Kolar, producer of “Tigers,” and Laszlo Nemes, director of “Son of Saul,” and they were joined by Sarajevo festival director Mirsad Purivatra.
Laszlo Nemes, director of ‘Son of Saul’
At the party at Aquarius Vils until the early hours in the morning were several members of the festival jury: Romanian director Calin Peter Netzer, Diana Bustamante, artistic director of Cartagena International Film Festival in Colombia, the London-based Croatian actress Zrinka Cvitesic and U.K. producer Mike Downey.
During the four-day CineLink program, producers of 14 movie projects from South-East Europe are taking part in CineLink’s Co-production Market, and the filmmakers behind five films in post-production from the region are participating in the Work in Progress section.
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Attending CineLink are representatives from Wild Bunch, the Match Factory, Coproduction Office, Global Screen, Protagonist Pictures, Pyramide, Elle Driver, Memento, Pluto Film and Fortissimo, among others.
Cedomir Kolar, producer of ‘Tigers,’ with Ena Rahelic, CineLink industry manager
CineLink reports that 60% of the projects presented in past editions have moved from development to production, and many past projects have gone on to win awards at major festivals. These include Emir Baigazin’s “Harmony Lessons,” which won the Silver Bear at Berlinale in 2013, Noaz Deshe’s “White Shadow, which won the Lion of the Future at Venice in 2013, and Kutlug Ataman’s “The Lamb,” which won the CICAE Art Cinema Award in Berlin’s Panorama section last year.
The director, Andrei Cohn, and cast of competition title ‘Back Home’
Andrea Stavenhagen, industry head at Mexico’s Morelia Festival, with Sarajevo festival director Mirsad Purivatra