A total of 13 films screened Wednesday through Saturday, April 12 through April 15, 2017 at two Manhattan venues SVA Theatre and Anthology Film Archives. 

The program consisted of four blockbuster features, nine documentaries and six short films, including an animated film including works by eight women directors.

We kicked things off with BH Film Forum program on Wednesday, April 12 at Anthology Film Archives, the place which hosted our second and third annual BHFF editions back in 2005 and 2006. The evening included a special screening of Branko Ištvančić’s documentary essay Album as part of our non-competition program, as well as a special panel presentation featuring Bosnian-Herzegovinian and international film professionals and cinema experts. The panel included distinguished actress Mirjana Karanović, photographer Ron Haviv, curator Ana Janevski, film and media scholar Aleksandar Bošković, filmmaker and multimedia artist Amir Husak and scholar of cinema and cultural studies Dijana Jelača .

Then, from Thursday, April 13 through Saturday, April 15, the action moved to SVA Theatre for a jam-packed, three-day marathon of screenings featuring the 2017 BHFF competition selections and Q&A with the director of My Aunt In Sarajevo, Goran Kapetanović, the director Cameraperson, Kirsten Johnson, the director and lead actress of A Good Wife, Mirjana Karanović, the director of Death In Sarajevo, Danis  Tanović and last but not least the director of No Smoking in Sarajevo, Gianluca Loffredo. Discussions were led by Dijana Jelača and Amir Husak. 

In addition, the year 2017 was a momentous year as it marked the highest recorded attendance in the history of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian Film Festival.  The festival also received close to 60 submissions this year.

​

This year's program was incredibly diverse and tackled a number of important social and cultural themes, from economic precarity, disability, gender discrimination, to the ongoing efforts to come to terms with the legacies of the war. We were delighted to feature the work of innovative young filmmakers alongside established regional names such as Oscar-winning director Danis Tanović and legendary actress Mirjana Karanović.