Tuesday, July 31, 2012

3 Films To Watch This Summer: A SEE Fest Blast From the Past

During the long heat wave that's sure to occupy the remainder of summer, what else is there to do than hull up inside a fortress of air conditioning and watch movies? From SEE Fest's past festival programs here are three films that should give you something of quality to watch and bring you down memory lane. So kick back, relax, and absorb the cultural richness that these films have to offer.

BEHIND THE GLASS- 2009 -  Directed by Zrinko Ogresta



































Beautifully composed psychological drama about a love triangle between three Croatians reveals layers of moral dilemmas as protagonists confront fate, destiny, coincidence and individual responsibility as one marriage is falling apart. Much like Kieslowski, director Ogresta probes the social undercurrents beneath the bubble of an upscale urban living with great skill and sharp insight.Shown during the 2009 SEE Fest Program 

THE WAY I SPENT THE END OF THE WORLD - 2006 - Directed by Catalin Mitulescu



































Winner of Best Actress award for Dorotheea Petre's performance at Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard category in 2006, “The Way I Spent the End of the World” is a heart-warming coming-of-age story of two siblings making the most of it in the last months of Ceausescu’s regime in Romania. Brilliantly acted by the pitch-perfect Dorotheea Petre (“Ryna”), and young boy Timotei Duma, the film follows them through the pains of first love and challenged loyalties.Shown during the 2007 SEE Fest Program 


MOONLESS NIGHT - 2004 - Directed and Written by: Artan Minarolli

Director Artan Minarolli



































Rudina, a 16-year old girl, and her grandfather travel on a train through Albania hoping to emigrate abroad. On the train, Rudina falls in love with 25-year old Gjergi. Their flirtation leads them to become separated from Rudina’s grandfather and they suffer many hardships trying to reunite with him. Once they do, they discover a devastating secret that connects them to an earlier instance of migration, involving a young man who falls in love with a village girl while attempting to escape from Albania under Hoxha’s dictatorship. In both stories, migration is a seemingly unattainable goal, with the love between young people constituting the primary source of hope for social renewal.Shown during the 2008 SEE Fest Program






Thursday, July 26, 2012

Mirza Hasanefendić's Photography Captures the Sarajevo Film Festival


Fresh from Sarajevo, we’d like to introduce photographer and graphic designer Mirza Hasanefendić. His photography beautifully captures the essence of 18th Sarajevo Film Festival , transporting the viewer to a world of movement and color that revolves around the hustle and bustle of the festival itself.  Hasanefendić has been so gracious to compile a small collection of his photos in a way that tells a story of how the inhabitants of Sarajevo and film enthusiasts alike congregated to enjoy this year's festival.   You can view his full collection on our Flickr page. 


A shop window advertising the festival as well as Angelina Jolie’s appearance for her film about the Bosnian war : In the Land of Blood and Honey



Tourists and film enthusiasts flocked to the city to enjoy the 13 programs featured by the festival every year.  



 The festival attracts 100,000 people from Sarajevo and abroad.



 The festival offers 200 + films, and filmmakers and actors like gather in Sarajevo to present their works. 












 Local businesses thrived en route to the festival. 



 An after party that allowed festival goers to mingle. 





Mirza Hasanefendić: From Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina. Graduated at the Fine Arts Academy, department for graphic design, where he also attended a 6 semester photography class. He's been working as a graphic designer and photographer in Sarajevo for the past 14 years in many local and international advertising agencies (McCann Erickson, Publicis, Via Media...), as well as the NATO HQ in Sarajevo within SFOR mission's PsyOps division as graphic artist and photographer. Client list includes Coca-Cola, Nestlé, Qatar Embassy, Canon, Volksbank, Bosnian Telecom, ERONET - Croatian Telecom, Vapiano, UNDP, UN Women, Mercator Shopping Mall, Sarajevo Tobacco Factory, Bosnian Railways, Lek Ljubljana, Berlin Chemie and many more. Enjoys capturing small everyday moments in front of his lens. Currently working as a freelance designer and advertising photographer.

Friday, July 13, 2012

Karlovy Vary Film Festival Awards Serbian Filmmaker with the Independent Camera Award



Saturday
The 47th annual Karlovy Vary Film Festival came to a close on July 7th, after 350 film directors and actors presented their films in the world famous spa city in the Czech Republic. Over the past next nine days 10,000 audience members watched 180 films, including 60 debuts.

Only 100 km from Prague and renowned for its healing thermal mineral waters, artists, royalty and composers began frequenting Karlovy Vary (Carlsbad) in the 14th century. Not much has changed since then, as Karlovy Vary has hosted one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world since 1946, offering audiences highly regarded films at a crossroads of both Western and Eastern Europe.  

South Eastern European film fared well at the event, with Serbian filmmaker Miroslav Momčilović’s film Death of a Man in Balkans starring Emir Hadžihafizbegović, Radoslav Milenković, Bojan Žirović, Nataša Ninković, Anita Mančić taking the Independent Camera Award. 


Independent Camera Award: Miroslav Momčilović ( Death of a Man in Balkans)
Miroslav Momčilović accepts the Independent Camera Award
Filmed in one continuous shot, Death of a Man in Balkans follows the reactions of neighbors after a lonely composer commits suicide in his apartment. After the authorities are stuck in traffic and late to arrive on the scene, the neighbors slowly make their separate ways up to the apartment. Filmed on a tripod that the composer left stranded in the middle of the room, the neighbors, “weave a subtle mosaic of the ‘Balkan mentality’ and of human nature in general.”