MEET THE FILMMAKERS
SPECIAL PANEL CONVERSATION WITH BOSNIAN DIASPORIC FILMMAKERS
Sunday, May 23, 2021, 3pm (NY Time)
BHFF invites you to a special panel discussion with Bosnia’s diasporic filmmakers living and making movies in different parts of the world. The virtual panel will take place on Sunday, May 23 at 3pm NY time.
BHFF’s programming co-directors Dijana Jelača and Amir Husak will be in conversation with Aleksandra Odić (Great Wall of China), Una Gunjak (The Chicken), Sabina Vajrača (Variables), Ado Hasanović (Nomophobia), Bojan Bodružić (The Museum of Forgotten Triumphs), Goran Kapetanović (My Aunt in Sarajevo; Refugee 532) and the BAFTA winning director Oggi Tomić (Finding Family).
ALEKSANDRA ODIĆ
"Great wall of China"
Born in Bosnia-Herzegovina, as a child she moved to Germany due to the war.
Her work as an actress was followed by studies of Film Direction at the German Film and Television Academy Berlin (DFFB). She directed the short films DRAŠKO, MY FATHER (2009), SANJA DREAMS (2011), BEFORE THE DANCE (2014) and NEW SNOW (2014). GREAT WALL OF CHINA (mid-length, 2017) was screened at the Sarajevo Film Festival 2017 and at the Berlinale 2018, among others, and won several awards. The short THE BOY WITH THE CHEQUERED SHIRT (2019) was screened at many festivals and was part of the German talent showcase Next Generation Short Tiger 2019. She regularly serves as a juror at international festivals. Her first feature film is currently in development.
UNA GUNJAK
"The Chicken"
Una Gunjak was born and raised in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. She studied in Italy and in the UK, where she obtained her MA in Editing at the National Film and TV School. In her previous lives, Una has extensively worked as editor on features and documentaries, before focusing on writing and directing. Her short film "The Chicken" made in 2014 premiered at the Cannes Film Festival Critics' Week, won the European Film Award for Best Short Film 2014 and screened in the International Competition of Sundance Film Festival. It went on to screen at 270 other festivals around the globe, winning along more than 70 awards. Her short film "Salamat from Germany", made within the initiative Lebanon Factory, will premiere at the Directors' Fortnight 2017.
Una's first feature project, ALFA was selected for the Cannes Film Festival Cinefondation Residence and Artists-In-Residence Program of the Vienna Museum Quartrers; further more it has received financial support from the Bosnian Film Fund, from Creative Europe MEDIA Desk and won the Producers Network Award at the When East Meets West Co-Production forum.
SABINA VAJRAČA
"Variables"
Bosnian-American film director and screenwriter who immigrated to the U.S. as a war refugee in the 1990s, and started her career in NYC theatre. She focuses on character-driven dramas, thrillers, horrors, and grounded sci-fi, dealing with the darker side of the human condition. She’s best known for her critically acclaimed feature documentary BACK TO BOSNIA, and short drama VARIABLES, for which she was nominated for the HUMANITAS Prize, Student Oscars, and Student BAFTA, and won the DGA SA Grand Prize, Script 2 Screens Prize, and Best Short at BHFF, among other awards. She’s next attached to direct FOR BURAZ, a neo-noir crime drama set in Florida’s Bosnian Muslim immigrant community, with Prominent Productions and Annika Dawson producing. Sabina holds an MFA from USC School of Cinematic Arts and is repped by Industry Entertainment.
ADO HASANOVIĆ
"Nomophobia"
Ado Hasanović (born in Srebrenica 1986) is a Bosnian film director based in Rome. From 2008-2011, Ado has been the Creative Director of the Srebrenica Short Film Festival. He graduated from the Sarajevo Film Academy as a film director in 2013. He later attended the prestigious National Film School 'Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia' in Rome, where he specialized as a film director. In 2015, he started working as Art Director for the Mediterranean Short Film Festival in Sant'Antioco, Italy. As a guest student at the Academy of Performing Arts in Sarajevo, he finished a Master in Dramaturgy. He won several international awards for his short films “The Angel of Srebrenica”, “Blue Viking in Sarajevo”, “Mum” “Breath of life Srebrenica” and “Pink Elephant”.
BOJAN BODRUŽIĆ
"The Museum of Forgotten Triumphs"
Bojan Bodružić grew up in Sarajevo and has lived in Vancouver since the mid-90s. He holds a Joint MFA in Creative Writing and Film Production from the University of British Columbia. His films have screened at a number of international film festivals, as well as MoMA. His most recent film, ‘The Museum of Forgotten Triumphs’ took the award for Best Canadian Documentary at the 2018 Vancouver International Film Festival. He has been teaching film production and screenwriting at various colleges and universities in British Columbia since 2006, most recently Simon Fraser University.
GORAN KAPETANOVIĆ
"My Aunt in Sarajevo; Refugee 532"
Goran Kapetanović was born in 1974 in Sarajevo. He is a director and writer, known for My Aunt in Sarajevo (2016), Kiruna-Kigali (2012) and Caliphate (2020). Since 1992, he lives in Sweden. Goran graduated from Dramatiska Institutet – University College of Film, Radio, Television and Theatre with a Major in Film Directing. After his graduation, he directed a TV film for Swedish television, and several commercials in Scandinavia. He was teacher mentor for filmmakers from Rwanda Cinema in Kigali, Rwanda 2005-2007. His earlier short films "Echo and A family", have been awarded with 18 international prizes, including: Best Nordic Examination, Nordisk Filmfestival, Denmark, 2005; Best Foreign Drama, International Student Film Festival, Hollywood, USA, 2005; First Prize On the Road - 13th Intl. Art Film Festival, Bratislava, Slovakia, 2005; First Prize Film School, Rubber Giraffe - festival Court 18, Paris, France, 2005; Silver Award – 4th Intl. Student Film, Beijing, China, 2006; Best Director – 10th Ourense Intl. Independent Film Festival, Ourense, Spain, 2006; Airone d’Oro – 56th Intl. Short Film Festival, Montecatini, Italy, 2005; Jameson Short Film Award – Stockholm, Sweden, 2004.
OGGI TOMIĆ
Finding Family
Oggi Tomić is BAFTA winning Cambridge and London based filmmaker and director with over 15 years experience working on projects in the USA, UK, Pakistan, Europe and more besides. He is a member of Association of Cinematographers and filmmakers of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Specializing as a cinematographer and director, his portfolio extends across promotional, documentary, broadcast and corporate films, alongside a range of social and branded content for clients including BBC, Google, Buckingham Palace, Sony Europe, MTV and Barkleys.