Stefan Dordevic’s Wind, Speak To Me gained the Coronary heart of Sarajevo for finest function movie on the 2025 Sarajevo Movie Competition, on a night when a number of winners expressed solidarity with the coed protestors in Serbia.
Serbian director Dordevic’s movie – a Serbia-Slovenia-Croatia co-production – is impressed by the director’s real-life expertise, and follows a person whose first homecoming since his mom died coincides together with his grandmother’s birthday, and his makes an attempt to rescue a stray canine.
Scroll down for the total checklist of winners
Dragana Jovovic, Ognjen Glavonic and Stefan Ivancic produce for Serbia’s Non-Aligned Movies.
Dordevic devoted the award to his mom, “but in addition all of the moms who’re staying up all night time in Serbia worrying about their youngsters on the streets being crushed brutally and arrested.”
Anti-government protests started in Serbia in November final yr after a railway station collapse killed 16 individuals. The protests have been led by pupil teams together with movie college students from Belgrade’s College of Dramatic Arts, and have turned violent in current weeks.
In awarding the €16,000 prize, the function movie competitors jury praised Dordevic for taking “a formally daring and inquisitive method to his very private topic, working together with his collaborators to mix components of fiction and documentary into a movie of beguiling melancholy and delicate magnificence.”
It was a banner day for Serbian impartial movie, with Serbian-Romanian director Ivana Mladenovic profitable the €10,000 finest director prize for Sorella Di Clausura. “The punk spirit isn’t distant on this skilfully directed movie, which flows like a Dostoevskean river, stacking failure on failure, to lastly arrive at a romantic comedy, however with out the romance,” famous the jury.
Adem Tutic gained the €1,000 finest pupil movie award for Serbian title Tarik. Tutic introduced his passport on stage to wave throughout his acceptance speech, wherein he devoted the award to “my beloved individuals in Serbia, combating for his or her rights and freedom.”
Fantasy
The very best actress award went to the four-person lead ensemble of Fantasy – Sarah al Saleh, Mia Skrbinac, Mina Milovanovic and Alina Juhart, the latter of whom is a transgender girl. Andrija Kuzmanovic gained finest actor for Yugo Florida, one other Serbian title.
Austrian movie Our Time Will Come, directed by Ivette Locker, gained one of the best documentary prize; with a particular point out to Kristina Nikolova’s In Hell With Ivo, about flamboyant musician and performer Ivo Dimchev.
“Sarajevo captures all a competition ought to have – soul, enjoyable, nice motion pictures and connecting with business of all ranges simply,” stated Nikolova, who highlighted Romani documentary I Noticed A Suno and the post-screening dance get together with stay brass band as a competition spotlight.
Dmytro Hreshko, Ukrainian director of documentary competitors title Divia in regards to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine struggle, stated, “As a Ukrainian filmmaker, I can’t assist however really feel a robust connection between our present expertise and the historic trauma that Bosnia and Herzegovina has lived by. This area is aware of what struggle does — not solely to cities and folks, however to landscapes, reminiscence, and the collective psyche.”
Hreshko, who’s at present serving within the Ukrainian armed forces with the Cultural Forces initiative, added, “I left Sarajevo with readability and confidence within the movie we made. The suggestions, viewers reactions, sense of connection, all jogged my memory why we inform these tales.”
Sarajevo Movie Competition 2025 winners
Competitors programme – function movie
Finest function movie – Wind, Speak To Me (Ser-Slovenia-Cro) dir. Stefan Dordevic
Finest director – Ivana Mladenovic, Sorella Di Clausura
Finest actress – Sarah al Saleh, Alina Juhart, Mia Skrbinac, Mina Milovanovic, Fantasy
Finest actor – Andrija Kuzmanovic, Yugo Florida
Competitors programme – documentary movie
Finest documentary movie – Our Time Will Come (Aus) dir. Ivette Locker
Finest quick documentary movie – The Man’s Land (Geo-Hun) dir. Mariam Bakacho Katchvani
Particular jury award – In Hell With Ivo (Bul-US) dir. Kristina Nikolova
Particular point out – I Consider The Portrait Saved Me (Kos-Neth) dir. Alban Muja
Competitors programme – quick movie
Finest quick movie – Winter In March (Arm-Est-Fr-Bel) dir. Natalia Mirzoyan
Particular point out – Eraserhead In A Knitted Buying Bag (Bul) dir. Lili Koss
Competitors programme – pupil movie
Finest pupil movie – Tarik (Ser) dir. Adem Tutic
Particular award for selling gender equality – God Will Not Assist (Cro-It-Rom-Gr-Fr) dir. Hana Jusic
Particular youth views award – DJ Ahmet (N Mac-Czech-Ser-Cro) dir. Georgi M. Unkovski
Honorary Coronary heart of Sarajevo award – Willem Dafoe, Stellan Skarsgard, Paolo Sorrentino, Ray Winstone