Paweł Pawlikowski’s Fatherland will open the Sarajevo Film Festival 2026 (August 14-21).
Polish filmmaker Pawlikowski won the best director award at Cannes for the film about the relationship between a Nobel Prize-winning writer and his daughter as they embark on a challenging and emotional road trip across 1949 Europe.
Hanns Zischler and Sandra Hüller star. Mubi will release in several territories, including the UK-Ireland, North America, Germany, Benelux and Australia-New Zealand.
“It seems like the film suits Sarajevo Film Festival because it’s steeped in history and in conflict, in situations which are still within living memory in Bosnia. It feels like a good context to show the film,” said Pawlikowski.
The director has a long history with the festival: His documentary Serbian Epics screened in 1992, in the early days of the festival. His feature Cold War opened the 24th edition, and the following year, in 2019, he was honoured with the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo.
New award
The festival has also created the Prix Cineplexx for the best film in the Open Air Premiere programme. The audience award is in partnership with Cineplexx, the Austria-headquartered southeastern Europe cinema chain.
The prize has a total value of €20,000, comprising €15,000 in services for a marketing campaign in Cineplexx cinemas to support the winning film’s theatrical distribution, and €5,000 in cash, presented to the film’s producer.
Open Air Premiere showcases new works from across the former Yugoslavia. The festival also has a separate Open Air strand, which is not limited to titles from the region.
“This award represents far more than its monetary value,” said Jovan Marjanović, director of the Sarajevo Film Festival. “In addition to audience recognition, the winning film receives substantial marketing support for its theatrical release through one of the region’s largest cinema chains. This brings added value to the Open Air Premiere programme and provides regional films with tangible support beyond the festival itself.”
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