Awards, actor Kevin Spacey close the 14th Sarajevo Film Festival

26/08/2008

The 14th edition of the Sarajevo Film Festival ended on Saturday with an awards ceremony and a screening of the US film "The Usual Suspects".

By Envesa Hodzic-Kovac for Southeast European Times in Sarajevo -- 26/08/08

Oscar-winning Hollywood actor and film director Kevin Spacey signs autographs at the Sarajevo Film Festival. [Getty Images]

The joint Croatia-Bosnia and Herzegovina production "Buick Riviera" won Best Film and the FIPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics) Prize at the 14th Sarajevo Film Festival (SFF). Goran Rusinovic, a Croatian, directed the film, based on a book by Sarajevo native Miljenko Jergovic. Actors Leon Lucev and Slavko Stimac, who co-starred in the movie, shared the Best Actor award.

The SFF, which opened on August 15th, closed with a screening Saturday (August 23rd) of "The Usual Suspects", starring US actor Kevin Spacey, who attended the festival.

Sarajevo, which became "a vibrant city that never sleeps", hosted more than 100,000 visitors during the festival's nine days. It offered side events, concerts and performances in addition to 20 film screenings a day. Over 1,300 accredited guests and 650 journalists attended the festival.

Other notables at this year's SFF included the Austrian film "March", directed by Handl Claus, which won the Special Jury Award. Turkish actress Ayca Damgaci won Best Actress for "My Marlon and Brando", directed by Turkish director Huseyin Karabey.

In the Competition Programme (Shorts), the BiH animated film "Tolerantia", directed by Ivan Ramadan, won Best Short Film and the Prix/UIP Award. The film will now compete for the European Film Academy's prestigious award for best short film of 2008. Special Jury Mentions went to the short films "The Wake" (BiH) and "I Know" (Slovenia/Hungary), while a Special Honorary Mention went to "Ergo" (Hungary).

The Best Documentary Film prize went to "Corridor #8" (Bulgaria), directed by Boris Despodov, while the documentary "Divorce Albanian Style" (Bulgaria) won a Human Rights Award and "Fabulous Fairies" (Serbia) earned a Special Mention Award.

UK producer Cat Villiers received a special award for her "outstanding contribution to film and support for" the SFF.

The Hungarian film "Delta" won the CICAE (International Confederation of Artistic Cinemas) Award, entitling it to special CICAE support in distribution and screenings throughout a network of 3,000 cinemas. Croatian director Goran Devic won the EDN Talent Grant for his documentary "Three", and BiH director Faruk Sabanovic received the Katrin Cartlidge Foundation Scholarship for "Birds Like Us" -- the first BiH long animated film.

Finally, with an average mark of 4.78, "The Usual Suspects" won the Audience Award, surpassing the BiH documentary "The Seeker" by 0.02 points.

Festival director Mirsad Purivatra received the Chevalier de l'ordre des arts et des lettres, one of France's highest prizes for an outstanding contribution to spreading French culture or promoting global cultural heritage.