For some people, the Sarajevo Film Festival is not just a film festival. It is part of their most beautiful memories, a place of meetings, friendships, new experiences, and moments that stay in their memory long after the last festival screening ends. For one former scholarship recipient of the Hastor Foundation, SFF is exactly that – a memory of student days, Sarajevo, volunteering, friendships, and the feeling that someone opened the door to a completely new world for her.Today, almost 15 years after she first experienced the magic of the Sarajevo Film Festival as a student and scholarship recipient, she decided to give part of that experience to a new generation of Hastor Foundation scholarship recipients. While studying in Sarajevo, she dedicated most of her time to studying and volunteering. It was the Hastor Foundation that gave her the opportunity to discover a different side of the city, its festival side. Thanks to the Hastor Foundation and ASA Group, she had the opportunity to volunteer at the Sarajevo Film Festival, watch great films, and feel the special atmosphere that takes over Sarajevo during the festival days. She especially remembers the screening of the black-and-white silent film Blancanieves, directed by Pablo Berger, during the 19th Sarajevo Film Festival in 2013. That evening, they gave apples to the audience and invited them to support the work of the Hastor Foundation.
She still clearly remembers the large ASA Group promotional posters with the message: “We bring you the stars.” Those were days filled with laughter, work in the office and at the festival, and meeting new people. Today, she has not lived in Bosnia and Herzegovina for several years and does not have the opportunity to visit the Sarajevo Film Festival. The memories have remained, and with them, gratitude. That is why she wanted to prepare a surprise for the current Hastor Foundation scholarship recipients, similar to the one that once brought a smile to her face. She clearly remembers how happy the scholarship recipients were when they received information that tickets for SFF were available, but also that they could be guests at special receptions organized by ASA Group and the Hastor Foundation. For her, these were never just film tickets. They were an opportunity to experience something new. To meet new people. To be part of one big story. And, at least for a few hours, to escape everyday life.
That is why, with the help of the Hastor Foundation office, she sent an invitation to scholarship recipients to express their interest in gift tickets for screenings at this year’s Sarajevo Film Festival in Sarajevo and Tuzla. Through an online form, scholarship recipients were asked to state the film they wanted to watch, the time and location, as well as an alternative choice in case the tickets for their first choice were sold out. A total of 15 applications were received from scholarship recipients from different cities. And that is how one small but special festival story began. All scholarship recipients who applied received tickets for the films they chose. Since there were enough funds for a total of 19 screenings, some of them also received tickets for the alternative films they listed in their applications. This year’s SFF will therefore be an opportunity for them to watch very interesting films in Sarajevo and Tuzla. Among the most popular choices were The Widower, No Man’s Land, and Welcome to Sarajevo, which will be shown at the Coca-Cola Open Air Cinema. The scholarship recipients will also watch the films The Birthday Party, Saccharine, Palestine 36, Francophonia, No Good Men, The Virus of Pathological Kindness, and Bruca Braca Bruda Brada – Zombie Apocalypse. Their film evenings will take place at different festival locations in open-air cinemas: UniCredit Summer Screen, UNIQA Open Air Stari Grad, Open Air Safet Zajko, and Bingo Summer Cinema Tuzla, but also in indoor cinemas BKC, Meeting Point, and Cineplexx.
One of the applications brought a particularly nice moment. It was through one of our scholarship recipients that Nadira learned about the Bosnian-Herzegovinian animated film Bruca Braca Bruda Brada – Zombie Apocalypse. Behind this whole initiative is the belief that the role of art today is more important than ever. In a time marked by many crises and difficult events around the world, but also by the growing isolation and distance between people, art can be a space for rest, connection, and togetherness. A film can take a person into another reality for a few hours. It can make them laugh, make them sad, surprise them, or make them think. Watching a film together with hundreds of other people, especially under the stars of the Sarajevo sky, is an experience that is difficult to replace with anything else. That is exactly why she wanted the scholarship recipients to feel what she once felt herself. Not only to watch a film. But to experience the atmosphere. To be part of the city. To meet other film lovers. To create new memories. And maybe one day, many years later, to think of an August in Sarajevo and remember a film they watched under the stars. Especially meaningful to her is the contact she established with the scholarship recipients throughout the whole process. She is grateful for their trust, openness, and willingness to share their wishes and honest comments. Although she has not lived in Bosnia and Herzegovina for several years, buying festival tickets brought back part of the SFF atmosphere for her. For a moment, she once again felt that familiar joy – the same joy she once felt while, as a Hastor Foundation scholarship recipient, she waited for the news that tickets for festival screenings were available. This time, however, she was not waiting for someone to make her happy. She made others happy. And that is exactly where the special beauty of this story lies. Because the kindness a person receives does not have to end with them. It can be passed on. It can become a gift. It can become a new memory. It can become a new opportunity for someone else. Her story with the Sarajevo Film Festival does not end here. She plans, if it is possible to buy tickets online, to also support SFF screenings in Visoko, Zenica, and Jajce. In the long term, she would like to support scholarship recipients in attending theatre plays, screenings of Bosnian-Herzegovinian films in cinemas, conferences, and other important cultural and social events. Because her experience showed her how much one opportunity can mean. The Hastor Foundation opened the door to the world of film for her as a young student. It gave her the opportunity to volunteer at SFF, meet new people, watch great films, and feel the magic of Sarajevo during the festival days. Today, almost 15 years later, she wants to keep that door open for new scholarship recipients as well. And maybe that is the most beautiful continuation of one special story. Once, she was a young scholarship recipient waiting for someone to give her an opportunity. Today, she is the person giving that opportunity to others. Once, she watched a film under the stars with hundreds of other people. Today, she wants new scholarship recipients to experience the same feeling. Once, the Hastor Foundation gave her a ticket into a new world. Today, she gives tickets to new generations. Because some stories do not end when the film ends. They continue through people. Through friendships. Through gratitude. Through small gestures that can mean a lot to someone. And some tickets are not just tickets. They are an invitation to experience something new. To be part of something bigger. To forget everyday life for a few hours. And, just as it once did for her, maybe one film evening under the Sarajevo stars will stay in the memories of this year’s scholarship recipients for their whole lives. Because when the lights go out, the film begins. And when beautiful experiences are shared with others, a new story begins.
