The 31st edition of the Sarajevo Film Festival is wrapping up late on Friday after the unveiling of this year’s winners. The Heart of Sarajevo for the best feature film went to Wind Talk to Me, directed by Stefan Đorđević, while Ivette Löcker’s Our Time Will Come won the best documentary feature prize.

Mashing fiction and documentary, Wind Talk to Me stars its Serbian director and his family. “Stefan reunites with his family to celebrate his grandmother’s birthday for the first time since his mother recently passed away,” reads a synopsis. “This homecoming, driven by Stefan’s urge to complete a film about his mother as well as an attempt to make amends by rescuing a stray dog, will ignite an introspective journey.”

In his acceptance speech, Đorđević mentioned recent unrest and violent clashes between anti-government protesters and police in Serbia against the country’s beleaguered pro-Moscow President Aleksandar Vučić and the government. Peaceful demonstrations started in November after a railway station collapse killed 16 people, with critics blaming corruption and cost savings. In recent days, the situation has turned violent as supporters of the president and government staged counter-protests, and riot police was deployed.

“I dedicate this to my mother, but also to all the mothers who are staying up all night in Serbia worrying about their kids on the streets being beaten brutally and arrested,” he director said about his Sarajevo best feature film award.

Our Time Will Come, whose director discussed the film with THR earlier in the week, follows an interracial couple for a year. “Siaka from Gambia and his wife Victoria have returned to their adopted ‘homeland’ of Austria to build a stable existence and start a family,” notes its synopsis. “Both invest a large part of their energy in achieving their shared utopia, but cultural differences remain significant, social structures remain immobile, and their own history and traditions are just as hard to shake off.”

Ivana Mladenović was honored as best director for Sorella di Clausura. Plus, the best actress and actor awards were bestowed upon the ensemble cast of director Kukla’s Fantasy, namely Sarah Al Saleh, Aline Juhart, Mina Milovanović, and Mia Skrbinac, and Andrija Kuzmanović for his role in Yugo Florida, respectively. 

The festival’s four competition sections – for feature, documentary, short and student films – screened 15 world, six international, 28 regional and two national premieres. A total of 50 films competed for the Heart of Sarajevo awards.

Sarajevo Film Festival director Jovan Marjanović and his team also once again brought the stars to the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Willem Dafoe, Stellan Skarsgard, and Ray Winstone received the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo honor at the festival, as did Italian auteur Paolo Sorrentino. The works of Russia-born director and artist Ilya Khrzhanovsky and Sorrentino were also featured in curated retrospectives of their films.

Check out all the winners of the 31st Sarajevo Film Festival below.

HONORARY HEART OF SARAJEVO
Willem Dafoe
Ray Winstone
Stellan Skarsgård
Paolo Sorrentino