The VIVA Film Festival is an annual documentary film festival that is based in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. [1] [2] The festival showcases international films with ecological, religious and touristic themes, as well as youth-made films. [3] It was established by an international team of film professionals, environmentalists, diplomats, religious leaders and scholars that includes former US Vice President Al Gore (current festival Vice Chairman), Bosnian archeologist Semir Osmanagić, Austrian diplomat currently serving as the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina Valentin Inzko and others, with the purpose of promoting inter-religious dialogue, the preservation of the environment and ecotourism. [4] [5] [6]
The festival is composed of five competition programs: Grand Prix, Ecology, Religion, Tourism and Youth-directed. [7] It is based in Sarajevo, where the centre piece events, projections and award ceremonies are held, but also travels to cities and towns across Bosnia and Herzegovina. [8] Each town has its own management departement and they are all interlinked. Heads of the various management departements sit in the festival's managing council. Each year's competition selection includes more than 100 films from over 45 countries that tackle the issues of inter-religious dialogue, environmentalism and ecotourism. [9] A panel of filmmakers, religious and community leaders, writers and human rights advocates judges the entries, based both on their cinematic value and on their message, deciding on the three best films from each program. [10]
Award winners
Grand Prix
Year |
English title |
Original title |
Director(s) |
Country |
2015 | Baobabs between Land and Sea [11] | N/A | Cyrille Cornu | Madagascar |
2016 | Man From Salt [12] | مرد نمک | Sajed Sayad Moosavi | Iran |
2017 | The Last Warriors [13] | N/A | Valentina Ippolito | Italy, China |
2018 | Our Roots [14] | Nos Racines | André Russell | France |
Ecology
Year |
English title |
Original title |
Director(s) |
Country |
2015 | WindEnds [15] | N/A | Andoni SanGaley | Spain |
2016 | Nature Needs You [16] | N/A | Mark Peace | Australia |
2017 | Day After Day [17] | दिवसेंदिवस | Nagnath Kharat | India |
Religion
Year |
English title |
Original title |
Director(s) |
Country |
2015 | As You Like It [18] | N/A | Paola Onet | Romania |
2016 | Jewish Blind Date [19] | N/A | Anaelle Morf | Switzerland |
2017 | Bhikkhuni, Buddhism, Sri Lanka, Revolution [20] | N/A | Małgorzata Dobrowolska | Poland |
Tourism
Year |
English title |
Original title |
Director(s) |
Country |
2015 | The Glacier - An Alpine Legend [21] | N/A | Michael Schlamberger | Germany |
2016 | The Phenomenon of the Fortress [22] | Fenomen tvrđava | Dragan Stojmenović | Serbia |
2017 | Novalja - Eternal Beauty on the Isand of Pag [23] | N/A | Ivan Perić | Croatia |