The 32nd Sarajevo Film Festival: An Unexpected Time
Last month, I was lucky enough to attend the 2026 Sarajevo Film Festival in Bosnia-Herzegovina and, let me tell you, I don’t know how I pushed through, but I did!
For context, for the week-or-so that SFF was going on, I felt incredibly unwell. Even today, I’m sitting here reflecting and thinking to myself, “How was I able to do anything at all?” From the first day to the last day, I was not feeling my best. I’ll spare the details, but let’s just say my stomach was not agreeing with me no matter what, and the nausea seemed to stick to me like the gum at the bottom of your shoe that you can’t seem to entirely scrape off. My colleagues and I theorize that it was likely a combination of the extreme heat and a lack of hydration. I’m not sure of the source, but I do know that, because of all this, I didn’t get to attend everything that I would have liked to attend, and I had to leave a few events early! However, I did do the best I could, so let’s talk about the experience :)
SFF Begins
Just like last year, SFF had a special pre-festival screening of a classic film from the region. This year, they screened Ivica Matić’s 1976 film “Woman with a Landscape.” It’s always so interesting to me to watch these old Yugoslav films. This one in particular was (and I’ll be really honest) a little bit odd. But that’s ok! It made it all the more interesting to sit through, because you truly didn’t know where the characters were going from there. It also was a great night in the sense that it was a little bit more laid back and relaxed before the “fanciness” of the following day, where we were going to have all the chaos of opening night. Also, during the pre-screening, I ran into some friends so it was great to sit with them and enjoy the film!
The following day was what brought the heat (literally!). It was so hot I could barely function. And, to make it worse, I had a bought of nausea in the morning that left me mostly unable to function. I had to head back to my AirBnB and rest a bit before I went out for opening night.
My colleague, Dijana Jelača, and I
I was able to meet up with a colleague before we headed to the opening night reception, which was nice because these events can sometimes be intimidating when all alone. We were surrounded by big names from the Bosnian-Herzegovinian film industry. Thankfully, we already knew some of them from their times at BHFF, so we were able to mingle at least to a medium-degree. In a networking-sense, there aren’t many feelings worse that being at a “big” event but being relegated to the sides of the room either because you don’t know anyone, or that they’re all much more successful than you so you’re intimidated, or any other number of reasons. I’m grateful that the Bosnian film industry at least feels like a close community since it’s so small, because, usually, one introduction leads to another, which leads to another, and another, etc.
The opening night reception is always a special event for me since I’m really not all that important, so I feel very lucky to be in the same room as so many respected Bosnian-Herzegovinian filmmakers and filmmakers from around the world. Following the reception, we had the opening night film, then the afterparty. It was fun! But eventually it got really packed and both my colleague and I were tired from our travels so we called it a night. But, overall, it was such a great atmosphere.
The Festival
At the screening of “To Hold a Mountain”
I wish I was able to mentally separate the days of SFF, but I can’t! When SFF comes around, my days become of a blur of screenings, panels, industry events, and potential evening social time (although, with how I was feeling this year, that last part mostly didn’t happen).
Because I was focusing on the Bosnian domestic film category, I was mostly at the Cineplexx that was screening those films. I really enjoy watching films at the Sarajevo Cineplexx. It’s always clean and air-conditioned, and I’m able to buy snacks and popcorn, so on those days with back-to-back events it serves as a nice way to get some carbs in you. Screenings that stick out to me include the screening of “To Hold a Mountain” by Biljana Tutorov and Petar Glomazić – an amazing documentary about the fight to preserve a mountain in Montenegro for the people that live there. The president of Montenegro even came! I definitely had a double-take because I did not believe I was actually seeing the president of Montenegro at the Cineplexx – but I was! Other great screenings include: “Male Stvari / Little Things” by Zvonimir Jurić, “Ay Carmela – Made in BiH,” “Forbidden Tongue” by Boris Mojsovski, and “We Shall Live Together.” I saw many more than this, but those are the ones that really stuck out to me because of their emotional and impactful messages.
If I could have one criticism about the festival, I would say that it was difficult getting tickets. Even though I had an industry pass, I could barely use the 3-free tickets a day that were allocated to us since the screenings would sell out so fast. Even when I told them I would outright pay for some of the screenings, it was not possible. Now, this can be seen as a good thing! SFF clearly had a higher volume of visitors than anticipated, which is a great indication of their reach, and may even set the stage for further expansion. However, as a movie-goer, having tickets sold out or even over-sold in some instances, was not the greatest experience. Again, the movies were fantastic, but it was getting the tickets that was the difficult part. To be fair to SFF though, I think this year must have been an anomaly. Even Sarajevo locals were telling me that they had never seen Sarajevo this busy, even for the festival. I chalk it up to increased interest and tourism from our World Cup run, going viral with our “I am from Bosnia, Take me to America” song, and National Geographic naming Sarajevo one of best destinations in Europe. I don’t think anyone quite anticipated how busy the city was going to get, so I have a lot of grace and understanding for SFF – it can’t be easy coordinating all of it!
Aftermath
I can easily say that with my feeling unwell, the intense heat, and the chaotic schedule every day for a week straight, I feel like I’ve been through the trenches! But ultimately, I still recognize how lucky I am. I got to go to one of my favorite festivals in the world, I got to watch some awesome cinema, and I was able to spend that much more time back in Bosnia. No matter what, I’m grateful for the experience!
-Selma