Elene Naveriani's "Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry" won the Heart of Sarajevo in the best feature film category and the best actress for Ekaterine Chavleishvili's performance on Friday at the 29th Sarajevo Film
In the romance and narrative movie, a middle-aged stoically independent woman in a Georgian village experiences a gentle existential crisis during an affair. The 1985-born Georgian director's feature movie premiered at the Directors' Fortnight in Cannes 2023.
The Heart of Sarajevo awards in 13 categories were announced at the closing ceremony on Friday held in the National Theater.
Philip Sotnychenko from Ukraine won the best director for his murder-crime drama "La Palisada."
The best actor award went to Jovan Ginic, a 16-year-old high school student from Belgrade, who also won the best actor at this year's Cannes for his performance in "Lost Country."
Serbian director Nemanja Vojinovic's Bottlemen won the Best Documentary, focusing on the community of plastic bottle collectors struggling to make a living at one of the largest landfill sites in Europe near the Serbian capital Belgrade.
The best short documentary award goes to Croatian director Sara Jurincic's "Valeria."
A total of 49 films competed in various categories at this year's SFF. Launched in 1995, the SFF has since grown into a major cultural event in the country and the largest film festival in Southeast Europe.
