News

This hellhole that we call Earth has been plagued by countless forms of fascism and war since the dawn of time. Among the earliest records of human history are so-called great men boasting of their conquests, be it the Narmer Palette in Egypt or the Stele of the Vultures in ancient Sumeria. Then there is Germany’s reign of terror over all of Europe. As if that wasn’t enough, Russia is waging war on Ukraine, and Israel is erasing Palestine from existence while you’re reading this sentence. Now, when movies (and TV shows) depict these horrifying conflicts, they usually focus on the kinds of oppression and violence that were inflicted by the oppressors on the oppressed, you know, to remind people that it shouldn’t happen again. Yet, it happens again and again. So, I guess, filmmakers are approaching this topic a little differently now by showing how...

Click here to read the full article.

The Croatian limited series The Last Socialist Artifact (original title: Područje bez signala) won the top prize for best drama series at the Hearts of Sarajevo TV Awards, the small-screen section of the 28th Sarajevo Film Festival.

The TV awards honor excellence among television productions from the region.

In addition to the top prize of best drama series, The Last Socialist Artifact scooped the best actor and actress honors for stars Izudin Bajrović and Lana Barić, as well as the best director nod for Dalibor Matanić and best screenplay honors for writers Hana Jušić, Jelena Paljan and Milan F. Živković.

“I didn’t expect to win this big, it was quite s surprise,” said Tilić, who produced the series through her Zagreb-based Kinorama in partnership with Slovenia’s production company Perfo, Serbia’s Sense Production and Finland’s Citizen Jane. “I’m especially...

Croatian miniseries “The Last Socialist Artefact” was the big winner at the Heart of Sarajevo TV Awards, which were handed out Sunday night during the Sarajevo Film Festival.

The six-part limited series, which is adapted from Robert Perišić’s novel “No-Signal Area,” tells the story of two urban transplants who take over an abandoned turbine factory for a mysterious client in a remote, economically depressed Balkan town. The show took home awards in five of the eight categories for drama series, including best series, best leading actor for Izudin Bajrović and best director for Dalibo Matanić.

Created by Ankica Jurić Tilić and Dalibor Matanić, “The Last Socialist Artefact” is produced by Tilić for Zagreb-based Kinorama, in co-production with Serbia’s Sense Production, Slovenia’s Perfo Production and Finland’s Citizen Jane. The series was part of the official selection at Series Mania last year, where it won the top prize in the International Panorama competition.

Produced in conjunction with Serbia, Slovenia and Finland, Croatian six-part mini-series The Last Socialist Artefact had the perfect pedigree to take top honors in the Hearts of Sarajevo Awards for TV Series, a regional award set up to celebrate the past year’s best small-screen talent from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Kosovo and Slovenia.

A study of today’s post-industrial world presented with humor and warmth, The Last Socialist Artefact tells the story of two city guys who take over a disused turbine factory in a depressed backwater with the intention of reopening it. The series’ near-grand slam of awards, winning five of the eight available, was contested by two detective mysteries from Serbian: Awake and Black Wedding.

The inaugural Comedy awards were a little more evenly spread, with the main awards split between Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Advokado, once memorably described as being a kind...

The Sarajevo International Film Festival has unveiled the nominees for its second annual TV awards with 17 series from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Kosovo and Slovenia represented across the nominees.

The local series up for awards are: Advokado, Besa 2, Block 27, Black Wedding, Strange Kind of Loves, Dolina rož, Awake, Lenin’s Park, Crazy, Confused, Normal, Underneath 2, Mrkomir I, Bad Blood, The Last Socialist Artefact, United Brothers, Killers of My Father 5, The Silence and Time of Evil.

This year, the award categories have expanded to include drama series and comedy and winners will be honored with the fest’s lauded Heart of Sarajevo award, a prize usually given to the festival’s competition winner.

The Sarajevo Film Festival established the awards for TV series last year, with the aim of promoting and showcasing the highest quality regional television series in the past 12 months to promote their international placement.

The TorinoFilm Lab has announced the 20 feature film projects and five story editor trainees who will take part in the 2020 edition of ScriptLab, an intensive workshop focused on feature film scripts in early stages of development.

The program partners participants with filmmakers from around the world to develop their scripts through a series of residencies and online mentoring sessions. The ScriptLab culminates with a presentation at the TorinoFilmLab Meeting Event in November, when the 20 projects will be presented to an international audience of film professionals.

Each edition of the ScriptLab divides participants into five work groups, led by an international script consultant and paired with a story editor trainee, who develop their scripts through intensive peer to peer group work. This year’s tutors are Philippe Barrière (France), Rasmus Horskjaer (Denmark), Franz Rodenkirchen (Germany), Maria Solrun (Iceland), and Françoise von Roy (Germany). The story editor trainees are scriptwriter, festival director...