The Sarajevo Film Festival, which was held in the Bosnian capital from 14 to 22 August 2015, announced its winners and awards.

The “Heart of Sarajevo for the Best Feature Film” award, which is sponsored by the Council of Europe, went to the film “Mustang”, directed by Deniz Gamze Ergüven from Turkey. The financial award, in the amount of €16,000, is provided by Council of Europe. Five young actresses who act in the film – Güneş Şensoy, Doga Doğuşlu, Tuğba Sunguroğlu, Elit İşcan and Ilayda Akdoğan – were jointly awarded the “Heart of Sarajevo for Best Actress”. The financial award is in the amount of €2,500.

The Special Jury Prize went to the Hungarian film Son of Saul (Director: László Nemes).

The Greek film Chevalier (Director: Athina Rachel Tsangari) won Special Jury Mention. Six men who starred in this film – Yorgos Kéntros, Vangelis Mouríkis, Panos Kóronis, Makis Papadimitríou, Yorgos Pyrpassópoulos, Sakis Rouvás, were jointly awarded the “Heart of Sarajevo for Best Actor”. The financial award is in the amount of €2,500.

Bulgaria’s production Godless by Ralitza Petrova and Rossitsa Valkanova received the Restart Award. It provides in kind support worth €20.000.

The Sarajevo Film Festival is an international cultural event, held for the first time in 1995 at the height of the siege of the Bosnian capital. It seeks to support and further regional cinema and authors.

Short and full-length films by young directors from Eastern and Southern Europe are screened at the Festival, together with independent productions. The festival is a professional platform for the seventh art in a region where the Council of Europe is very active. The issues addressed by the contending works quite often tie in with the values upheld by the Organisation. Many are furthermore co-financed by the Council of Europe’s Eurimages support fund for European cinema.

Source: Council of Europe, Sarajevo Film Festival