Milica Tomovic’s Serbian project Big Women headed the winners at Sarajevo Film Festival’s CineLink industry platform for 2024, taking the €20,000 Eurimages co-production development award.
Produced by Dragana Jovovic and Jelena Radenkovic, the film will follow two friends who embark on an unplanned trip to the Montenegrin coast, where they uncover long-buried secrets.
Scroll down for the full list of CineLink 2024 winners
Tomovic’s debut feature Celts premiered in Panorama at the 2021 Berlinale, before winning the best director prize at Sarajevo later that year.
The awards were distributed during a ceremony at Sarajevo’s new Festival Garden on Thursday, August 22. As a surprise, a special Eurimages Co-Production Development Award was given to Philip Sotnychenko’s Ukraine-Lithuania co-production Times New Roman, in what the festival said is a sign of its continued support for Ukraine.
Set against the backdrop of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the film is about a contemporary artist who tries to find understanding with his loved ones, despite his struggles with alcoholism.
The Co-Production Market awards were selected by a jury of former Heretic producer Konstantinos Kontovrakis, Komplizen film producer Janine Jackowski and the Romanian Film Center’s Illinka Teodorescu.
The Female Voices CineLink Award, doubled in size to €20,000 this year, was given to Keti Machaviarani’s Greece-Georgia co-production Lullaby, about a caregiver who faces losing her income as the man in her care approaches death.
In the Work in Progress strand, Igor Jelinovic’s Croatia-Serbia co-production Honey Bunny took the €25,000 award from sponsor Turkish National Radio Television. The film follows a woman’s secret move into a coveted family property on the island of Hvar, which fractures her relationship with her sister.
The €30,000 in-kind post-production award from sponsor Post Republic went to Banu Sivaci’s Turkish title Hear The Yellow, about a woman searching for her missing cat when returning to her village, who uncovers family secrets along the way.
With founder and CEO Danielle Turkov and COO Amy Shepherd both attending the festival, UK-based film impact organisation Think-Film Impact Production gave its €20,000 in-kind award to Dmytro Hreshko’s Poland-Ukraine-Netherlands co-production Divia, about the destruction of Ukraine’s natural beauty during the Russian full-scale invasion.
The 22nd edition of CineLink Industry Days distributed over €200,000 in prizes to projects from the southeast Europe and MENA regions, including €130,000 in finance and €73,500 in kind.
Earlier this week Czech event Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival gave out its Docu Talents from the East awards. The 30th Sarajevo Film Festival draws to a close this evening (Friday, August 23).
Sarajevo CineLink 2024 winners
Co-Production Market
Eurimages Co-Production Development Award – Big Women (Ser) dir. Milica Tomovic; prods. Dragana Jovovic, Jelena Radenkovic
Eurimages Special Co-Production Development Award – Times New Roman (Ukr-Lith) dir. Philip Sotnychenko; prod. Valeria Sochyvets
Film Center Montenegro CineLink Award – Hystera (Gr-Slovenia-Fr) dir. Asimina Proedru; prod. Maria Kontogianni
Film Center Serbia CineLink Award – Air In A Bottle (Bos/Her-Ser) dir. Aida Begic; prod. Snezana van Houwelingen
Artekino International Prize – Uptight Ass (Ser) dir. Matija Gluscevic; prod. Carna Vucinic
Drama Awards
Croatian Audiovisual Center Drama Award – Pray For Us (Bos/Her-Kos-Mont) cre. Filip Jokanovic; prods. Jon Gojani, Sara Stijovic
TV Drama Vision Pitch Award – Angelmaker (Rom-Cze) cre. Cristina Grosan; prod. Anda Ionescu
Co-Production Market/Drama Award
Female Voices CineLink Award – Lullaby (Gr-Geo) dir. Keti Machaviarani; prod. Anda Ionescu
Work in Progress
Turkish National Radio Television Award – Honey Bunny (Cro-Ser) dir Igor Jelinovic; prod. Rea Rajcic
Post Republic Award – Hear The Yellow (Tur) dir. Banu Sivaci; prods. Yusuf Aslanyurek, Orkun Huylu
Think-Film Impact Production Award – Divia (Pol-Ukr-Neth) dir. Dmytro Hreshko; prods. Polina Herman, Glib Lukianets
Docu Rough Cut Boutique
HBO Award – In Hell With Ivo (Bul-US) dir-prod. Kristina Nikolova
Cat&Docs Award – Kartli (Geo-Fr) dirs. Tamar Kalandadze, Julien Pebrel
DOK Leipzig Preview Award – Electing Miss Santa (Mol-Rom) dir. Raisa Razmerita; prod. Ion Gnatiuc
Avantpost Award – In Hell With Ivo (Bul-US) dir-prod. Kristina Nikolova
Movies That Matter Award - Electing Miss Santa (Mol-Rom) dir. Raisa Razmerita; prod. Ion Gnatiuc
East Silver Caravan Award - In Hell With Ivo (Bul-US) dir-prod. Kristina Nikolova
No comments yet