Marking the tenth anniversary of the end of the war in Bosnia, The Bosnian Institute will present its second festival of films by Bosnian film-makers from 27 - 30 October 2005 at Riverside Studios, London. In the late 1960s Bosnia-Herzegovina was recognised as one of the most prolific centres of film-making in the former Yugoslavia. The war and siege of Sarajevo between 1992-1995 curbed feature film production in newly-independent Bosnia, but inspired innumerable shorts and documentaries. In October 1995 the guns fell silent ; four months later shooting began on Bosnia’s first post-war feature film. Since then Bosnian cinema has seen a remarkable resurgence, regaining its reputation for creative film-making and winning major international awards. No Man’s Land by Danis Tanoviç consolidated the rebirth of cinema in Bosnia in 2002 when it was awarded an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.
The festival will focus on Bosnian film-makers’ current preoccupation with war and its aftermath : the problems of refugees, unresolved ethnic tensions, crime and corruption, and Bosnia’s uneasy relationship with the international community. Contemporary production is set in context with an accompanying selection of very different pre-war films on the same theme. The season also celebrates ten remarkable years of Sarajevo Film Festival. Born in the midst of war, screening its first programme in October 1995, SFF has grown to be an influential international festival - but one with strong community participation.
Bosnian Cinema : War & Peace will include :
9 feature films and 8 short films.
Special guests film-maker Pjer Zalica, award-winning director of Fuse and Days and Hours (2005 London Film Festival choice) and Mirsad Purivatra, director and founder of Sarajevo Film Festival
Q&A with Pjer Zalica after the screening of Fuse (Gori Vatra) on Fri 28 October. Interviewed by Laura Mulvey, distinguished film theorist and Professor of Film and Media Studies, Birkbeck College.
London Film Academy Masterclass with Pjer Zalica on Sat 29 October
Panel discussion on Sat 29 October on the role of film as a key public commentator in Bosnia’s post war society. With Mirsad Purivatra, Pjer Zalica and other guests. Chaired by award-winning filmmaker and journalist Fiona Lloyd-Davis.
Bosnian Cinema : War & Peace is a project of The Bosnian Institute, London in partnership with Riverside Studios, London Film Academy, British Council Bosnia & Herzegovina and Kinoteka Bosne i Hercegovine.
For the full programme for Bosnian Cinema : War & Peace visit The Bosnian Institute web site at www.bosnia.org.uk
For tickets : Contact Riverside Studios : www.riversidestudios.co.uk
