Sarajevo Film Festival (SFF) director Mirsad Purivatra stands on the red carpet during preparations for the online opening ceremony of the 26th Sarajevo Film Festival in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on Aug. 14, 2020. The 26th Sarajevo Film Festival (SFF) started online on Friday with the world premiere of "Focus, Grandma", a film by Bosnian director and screenwriter Pjer Zalica. (Photo by Nedim Grabovica/Xinhua)
SARAJEVO, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- The 26th Sarajevo Film Festival (SFF) started online on Friday with the world premiere of "Focus, Grandma", a film by Bosnian director and screenwriter Pjer Zalica.
"This was a tough decision but the right one," SFF director Mirsad Purivatra said in the opening speech.
The ceremony was streamed on the online platform ondemand.sff.ba where the audience will be able to find 187 movies from 56 countries and regions, of which 64 will have their world premiere before the SFF closes on Aug. 21.
Forty-nine films will compete for the festival's top prize Heart of Sarajevo awards.
"The pandemic has surely caused us major problems. But on the other hand, it placed us in a position to think outside the box about how to make the festival better and more efficient," Purivatra told the media on Friday.
The director said at the opening ceremony that the audience is essential to the SFF, but noted that some of the festival events related to the industry will probably stay in virtual space even after the pandemic.
