Sarajevo Film Festival to Go Ahead Despite COVID-19 Threat

The Sarajevo Film Festival is to go ahead as planned in mid-August but will be held in a changed format and under strict social distancing and preventive measures, the organisers said on Thursday as the Bosnian capital battled a new outbreak in coronavirus infections.

The festival, which grew in a quarter of a century from an act of wartime cultural defiance to one of the most important film events in Southeast Europe, still expects international jury members, guests and journalists to come - but it will be a far cry from thousands attending in previous years, as the coronavirus pandemic has restricted travel, the organisers said.

"We believe that together, as organisers, citizens of Sarajevo, government institutions, numerous partners, restaurants and hotels and guests, who despite challenges will be with us, we can succeed," SFF Director Miro Purivatra said in a statement on the festival website.

"By organising the festival in line with the advice from health experts and by behaving responsibly and within clearly defined guidelines, we can show how social cohesion is built even when we have to to keep physical distance," Purivatra said.

Bosnia has seen a steep rise in the number of coronavirus infections since the end of June, with the total almost tripling to 11,550 since then. The total number of deaths since March stands at 327.

Sarajevo registered only about a hundred cases until mid-June. Now it has just over 1,220 active cases with 75 new ones reported on Thursday.

Festival spokeswoman Andrijana Copf stressed that organisers will react to coronavirus situation developments in consultation with the authorities and health experts. "If the recommendation will be to cancel the festival, then we will do it," Copf told BIRN.<...