Scary Mother' triumphs at Sarajevo Film Festival

Meda Or The Not So Bright Side Of Things takes best director and best actor.
"Scary Mother" is a movie about a 50-year-old housewife, Manana, who struggles with a dilemma whether to choose between her family life and a love for writing she has repressed for years. After she finally decides to follow her passion, she is ready to sacrifice everything for it, mentally and physically.

Ana Urushadze’s Gerogia-Estonia drama Scary Mother has won the top prize at this year’s Sarajevo Film Festival, 

The film took the Heart of Sarajevo for best feature film, which comes with a financial award of €16,000. It stars Nata Murvanidze as a 50-year-old housewife who experiences family struggles as she tries to complete her first novel.

The main competition saw Romanian director Emanuel Pârvu take the Heart of Sarajevo for best director for his film Meda Or The Not So Bright Side Of Things, which comes with €10,000.

Best actress went to Ornela Kapetani for Daybreak and best actor went to Şerban Pavlu for Meda Or The Not So Bright Side Of Things.

The jury, led by Michel Franco and featuring Mark Adams, Gordan Bogdan, Fatma Al Remaihi and Melisa Sozen, also gave a special mention to Stephan Komandarev’s Directions.

The festival’s audience awards went to: Elmir Jukic’s The Frog (best feature) and Oliver Stone’s The Putin Interviews(best documentary). The young audience award went to Men Don’t Cry, which is Bosnia’s entry to the foreign language Oscar race.

In the CineLink awards, Damjan Kozole’s Slovenian feature Half-Sister won the Eurimages Coproduction Development Award, which comes with €20,000, while Ljubo Stefanov and Tamara Kotevska’s Honeyland took the top prize of the work in progress strand, the TRT Award, which comes with €30,000.

The Sarajevo Film Festival, launched in 1995, has become a cultural event in the Balkan region.

full list of winners below

Heart Of Sarajevo For Best Feature Film

Scary Mother (Georgia, Estonia)

Director: Ana Urushadze

Producer: Lasha Khalvashi

Heart Of Sarajevo For Best Director

Emanuel Pârvu (Romania)

Meda Or The Not So Bright Side Of Things

Special Jury Mention

Directions (Bulgaria, Germany, Macedonia)

Director: Stephan Komandarev

Heart Of Sarajevo For Best Actress

Ornela Kapetani, Daybreak

Heart Of Sarajevo For Best Actor

Şerban Pavlu, Meda Or The Not So Bright Side Of Things