– The festival also launches new Cineplexx audience award, a €20,000 prize to support the theatrical release of regional films
Fatherland by Paweł Pawlikowski
The 32nd Sarajevo Film Festival has unveiled the opening film of this year’s edition, set to take place from 14-21 August. Oscar-winning Polish director Paweł Pawlikowski will open the festival with his latest feature, Fatherland, which premiered in Competition at Cannes and earned him the Best Director Award.
The film follows Nobel Prize-winning writer Thomas Mann (Hanns Zischler) and his daughter Erika (Sandra Hüller) as they travel through a devastated post-war Germany in the summer of 1949, confronting both a divided nation and deep family tensions. The gala screening on 14 August will be attended by the director himself.
The opening marks another chapter in Pawlikowski’s long relationship with Sarajevo. His documentary Serbian Epics screened during the festival’s early years, Cold War opened the 2018 edition, and in 2019 he received the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo alongside a retrospective of his work. Speaking about his return, the filmmaker said the historical themes explored in Fatherland make the festival a particularly fitting place for the film, adding that Sarajevo has always felt like a home for his work because of its deep connection with history and cinema.
Alongside the opening film announcement, the festival has revealed the creation of the Prix Cineplexx, a new award presented in partnership with the leading Southeast European cinema chain. The prize, worth €20,000, will be presented to the audience favourite in the Open Air Premiere programme. It includes €15,000 in marketing services to support the winning film’s theatrical release across Cineplexx cinemas, as well as €5,000 in cash for the producer.
The award aims to bridge the gap between festival recognition and commercial exhibition. Open Air Premiere, introduced last year as a dedicated strand showcasing highly anticipated productions from across the former Yugoslavia, has quickly become one of Sarajevo’s flagship programmes. Festival director Jovan Marjanović described the initiative as a way of giving regional films meaningful support beyond their festival premieres, while Cineplexx Group CFO and co-owner Christof Papousek said the new prize reflects the cinema chain’s long-standing commitment to bringing outstanding regional cinema to audiences throughout Southeast Europe.
