The 26th annual Sarajevo Film Festival was recently held online from 14th through to 21st August. This year there were 250 employees, 320 media representatives, 1,536 guests from forty-seven countries and over 130,000 viewers from fifty-nine countries. 187 films from fifty-six countries were showcased, of which sixty-four had their world premieres and eight had international premieres. Forty-nine films were in the competition programmes, of which twenty-nine were world premieres. It is the premier and largest film festival in Southeast Europe, and is one of the largest film festivals in Europe. It was founded in Sarajevo in 1995 during the siege of Sarajevo in the Bosnian Independence War, and brings international and local celebrities to Sarajevo every year.The festival opened with the world premiere of Pjer Zalica's film 'Focus, Grandma', which was watched by almost 14,000 viewers from forty-two countries. The Official Awards for those films in Competition in the Feature Film and Documentary Film categories were :
* Heart of Sarajevo for Best Feature Film
Awarded to 'Exile', from Germany, Belgium and Kosovo, and Directed by Visa Morina.
* Heart of Sarajevo for Best Director
Awarded to Ru Hasanov for 'The Island Within' from Azerbaijan and France.
* Heart of Sarajevo for Best Actress
Awarded to Marija Skaricic for 'Mare' from Switzerland and Croatia.
* Heart of Sarajevo for Best Actor
Awarded to Vangelis Mourikis for 'Digger' from Greece and France.
* Heart of Sarajevo for Best Documentary Film
Awarded to 'Merry Christmas, Yiwu', from Sweden, Serbia, Germany, France, Belgium and Qatar, and Directed by Mladen Kovacevic.
* Special Jury Award
Awarded to 'Holy Father' from Romania, and Directed by Andrei Dascalescu.
* Human Rights Award
Awarded to 'Acasa, My Home', from Romania, Germany and Finland, and Directed by Radu Ciorniciuc.
* Honorary Heart of Sarajevo Award
Awarded to Mads Mikkelsen, Actor and Michel Franco, Director.
For more information on the full programme of events, you can visit the official website at : https://www.sff.ba
This week there are three latest cinematic releases to tempt you out to your local Odeon on a warm early Spring day. We kick off with a film plagued by numerous release delays, but it is finally here, telling the story of five teenagers locked up in a secret abandoned hospital who all exhibit new emerging mutant superpowers that they have yet to harness, and when they do there are forces at work who wish to keep them confined. We then turn to an alleged true story of the sighting of the Blessed Virgin Mary in a small Portugese village back in 1917 and the impact this had on the three young children who witnessed the apparition, the clergy, the government, the local community and the true believers at the time. And we wrap up the week with a highly acclaimed French foreign language film about two men who have spent the last couple of decades training underprivileged caregivers to sufferers of autism, but have done so without any formal approvals or certification, until the authorities come knocking putting their whole future in doubt, as well as those being cared for.
Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the three latest release new movies as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release or as Reviewed and Previewed in previous Blog Posts here at Odeon Online, you are most welcome to share your movie going thoughts, opinions and observations by leaving your relevant, succinct and appropriate views in the Comments section below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and in the meantime, enjoy your big screen Odeon outing during the week ahead.
'THE NEW MUTANTS' (Rated M) - here this long awaited horror film in the Superhero genre is based on the Marvel Comics of the same name, and is intended to be the thirteenth and stand-alone last instalment in the 'X-Men' franchise. Written and Directed by Josh Boone whose previous film making credits are 'Stuck in Love' his debut in 2012 and 'The Fault in Our Stars' in 2014, this film was originally slated for an April 2018 release date. That date was then pushed back to late February 2019, then again to early August 2019, and then once more to April 2020. It was then pulled due to COVID-19 and finally saw the light of day with its release Stateside last week, and in Australia this week. Costing US$67M to make, the film has so far taken US$10M and has gained largely mixed or average Reviews.
Here then, we have Rahne Sinclair (Maisie Williams), Illyana Rasputin (Anya Taylor-Joy), Sam Guthrie (Charlie Heaton) and Roberto da Costa (Henry Zaga) four young mutants held in an isolated hospital for psychiatric monitoring. Each of them have suffered some form of personal tragedy in their relatively short lives. Dr. Cecilia Reyes (Alice Braga), believing the teenagers are a danger both to themselves and to society as a whole, maintains a watchful eye on them as she struggles to teach them how to control their mutant abilities. When newcomer Danielle Moonstar (Blu Hunt) joins the other patients in the facility, strange occurrences begin to take place. The five patients are plagued by horrifying visions of their past tragedies, as their new mutant capabilities as well as their friendships are tested as they battle to try to make it out alive.
'FATIMA' (Rated M) - this drama film is Written and Directed by the Italian Director, Writer, Cinematographer and cameraman Marco Pontecorvo and was originally scheduled for a theatrical release in late April this year, but was subsequently pushed back to 14th August and then 28th August because of COVID-19. The film gets a limited showing in Australia from this week and has thus far garnered largely positive Reviews. Telling the true story of the ten-year-old shepherd girl Lucia dos Santos (Stephanie Gil), and her two young cousins, Francisco (Jorge Lamelas) and Jacinta Marto (Alejandra Howard), who reported having received apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Fatima, Portugal, in about 1917. Their revelations inspire believers but anger officials of both the Catholic Church and the secular government, who try to force them to recant their story. As word of their prophecy spreads, tens of thousands of religious pilgrims flock to the site to witness what became known as the Miracle of the Sun. Also starring Joaquim de Almeida, Goran Visnjic, Sonia Braga and Harvey Keitel.
'THE EXTRAORDINARY' (Rated M) - here this French drama film is Directed by Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano whose previous big screen outings included the critically acclaimed 2011 feature 'The Intouchables'. Selected as the Closing Night film at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival the film went on to become one of the highest grossing films in its native France last year, and has garnered critical acclaim once again for the pair of Directors and its cast. For approaching twenty years, Bruno (Vincent Cassel) and Malik (Red Kateb) have lived in a different world - that of autistic young children and teenagers abandoned by the state system. In charge of two separate not-for-profit organisations, they train young people from underprivileged areas to be caregivers for extreme cases that have been refused by all other institutions. However, Bruno and Malik work without official certification. However, when their future becomes uncertain and they are investigated and scrutinised by the authorities, they must fight for their communities in order to survive.
With three new release films this week to tempt you out to your local Odeon, remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephile friends afterwards here at Odeon Online. In the meantime, I'll see you sometime somewhere in the week ahead, at your local Odeon.
-Steve, at Odeon Online-
Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the three latest release new movies as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release or as Reviewed and Previewed in previous Blog Posts here at Odeon Online, you are most welcome to share your movie going thoughts, opinions and observations by leaving your relevant, succinct and appropriate views in the Comments section below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and in the meantime, enjoy your big screen Odeon outing during the week ahead.
'THE NEW MUTANTS' (Rated M) - here this long awaited horror film in the Superhero genre is based on the Marvel Comics of the same name, and is intended to be the thirteenth and stand-alone last instalment in the 'X-Men' franchise. Written and Directed by Josh Boone whose previous film making credits are 'Stuck in Love' his debut in 2012 and 'The Fault in Our Stars' in 2014, this film was originally slated for an April 2018 release date. That date was then pushed back to late February 2019, then again to early August 2019, and then once more to April 2020. It was then pulled due to COVID-19 and finally saw the light of day with its release Stateside last week, and in Australia this week. Costing US$67M to make, the film has so far taken US$10M and has gained largely mixed or average Reviews.
Here then, we have Rahne Sinclair (Maisie Williams), Illyana Rasputin (Anya Taylor-Joy), Sam Guthrie (Charlie Heaton) and Roberto da Costa (Henry Zaga) four young mutants held in an isolated hospital for psychiatric monitoring. Each of them have suffered some form of personal tragedy in their relatively short lives. Dr. Cecilia Reyes (Alice Braga), believing the teenagers are a danger both to themselves and to society as a whole, maintains a watchful eye on them as she struggles to teach them how to control their mutant abilities. When newcomer Danielle Moonstar (Blu Hunt) joins the other patients in the facility, strange occurrences begin to take place. The five patients are plagued by horrifying visions of their past tragedies, as their new mutant capabilities as well as their friendships are tested as they battle to try to make it out alive.
'FATIMA' (Rated M) - this drama film is Written and Directed by the Italian Director, Writer, Cinematographer and cameraman Marco Pontecorvo and was originally scheduled for a theatrical release in late April this year, but was subsequently pushed back to 14th August and then 28th August because of COVID-19. The film gets a limited showing in Australia from this week and has thus far garnered largely positive Reviews. Telling the true story of the ten-year-old shepherd girl Lucia dos Santos (Stephanie Gil), and her two young cousins, Francisco (Jorge Lamelas) and Jacinta Marto (Alejandra Howard), who reported having received apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Fatima, Portugal, in about 1917. Their revelations inspire believers but anger officials of both the Catholic Church and the secular government, who try to force them to recant their story. As word of their prophecy spreads, tens of thousands of religious pilgrims flock to the site to witness what became known as the Miracle of the Sun. Also starring Joaquim de Almeida, Goran Visnjic, Sonia Braga and Harvey Keitel.
'THE EXTRAORDINARY' (Rated M) - here this French drama film is Directed by Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano whose previous big screen outings included the critically acclaimed 2011 feature 'The Intouchables'. Selected as the Closing Night film at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival the film went on to become one of the highest grossing films in its native France last year, and has garnered critical acclaim once again for the pair of Directors and its cast. For approaching twenty years, Bruno (Vincent Cassel) and Malik (Red Kateb) have lived in a different world - that of autistic young children and teenagers abandoned by the state system. In charge of two separate not-for-profit organisations, they train young people from underprivileged areas to be caregivers for extreme cases that have been refused by all other institutions. However, Bruno and Malik work without official certification. However, when their future becomes uncertain and they are investigated and scrutinised by the authorities, they must fight for their communities in order to survive.With three new release films this week to tempt you out to your local Odeon, remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephile friends afterwards here at Odeon Online. In the meantime, I'll see you sometime somewhere in the week ahead, at your local Odeon.
-Steve, at Odeon Online-
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