Poland named Sarajevo Film Festival partner country

Poland has been named this year’s partner country at Sarajevo Film Festival’s (Aug 14-22) co-production market CineLink, an event coinciding with the 10th anniversary of the Polish Film Institute.

A delegation of around 15 Polish producers and distributors will be present at CineLink, where they will meet their Southeast European counterparts over four days.

There will also be a special presentation of the Polish film industry, and Robert Balinski, co-production expert at the Polish Film Institute, will be speaking about co-producing in the digital world at the Regional Forum - the festival’s debate forum which addresses urgent film policy issues and challenges in the European film industry today.

Izabela Kiszka-Hoflik, head of international relations at the Polish Film Institute, said: “The Polish film landscape has significantly changed through the last ten years: we produce more, we participate as a co-producer more often and the number of the cinema admissions is higher then ever.

“And we believe we have much to offer not only to western Europe but also to the Balkan countries whose artistic strength we admire. I’m proud to present our delegation to the international industry in Sarajevo and very much looking forward to our future collaboration.”

Cinelink head Amra Baksic Camo said: “It is a pleasure to be able to invite the Polish delegation to discover what our region has to offer in terms of talent, creativity and co-production experience.

“We might be based in different parts of Europe, but we operate in the same industry and a more and more borderless digital film world.

“We look forward to discussing our shared challenges, as well as to exploring the shared opportunities that we know are out there.

“Our hope is to help lay the foundation for long-term collaborations, and we really look forward to seeing what the next few years will bring.”

The CineLink Partner Country Initiative has been running for more than a decade and aims to strengthen the working relationship between the Southeast European film industry and its international counterparts.

Previous partner countries include: UK (2014), Germany (2013), France (2012), Switzerland (2011), Israel (2010), Sweden (2009), Ireland (2008), Cine Regio (2007), The Netherlands (2006), Germany (2005), Austria (2004).

CineLink runs Aug 19-22 and is a development and financing platform for around 30 carefully selected regional feature-length fiction films open for European co-production.

Its aim is to provide a platform designed to meet the current needs and expectations of Southeast Europe’s film industry in reshaping, and is attended by industry professionals from the region and the rest of Europe.

Sarajevo’s Industry Days also includes the Regional Forum, Industry Terrace and Avant-premiers, Docu Rough Cut Boutique, Talents Sarajevo, Sarajevo City of Film Fund, and Minimarket.