Sandra Wollner’s ‘Everytime’ Wins Best Film in Sarajevo, Ana Urushadze Crowned Best Director

Sandra Wollner’s Everytime has been awarded the Honorary Heart for best narrative feature film at the 32nd Sarajevo Film Festival .

As this year’s edition drew to a close on Friday night, filmmakers gathered at the city’s National Theatre where the jury members — including Igor Bezinović, Sara Klimoska, Matthijs Wouter Knol and Athina Rachel Tsangari, led by Emily Watson — unveiled their top picks.

A final Honorary Heart of Sarajevo was awarded to Emir Hadžihafizbegović, one of the most prominent actors in Bosnian-Herzegovinian and regional cinema, in recognition of his contribution to film. He joined Watson, Diego Luna, Woody Harrelson and Asghar Farhadi in receiving an Honorary Heart. The festival officially closed with a screening of a restored No Man’s Land by Danis Tanović. Related Stories TV Meghan Markle in Advanced Talks to Join Netflix Show After She and Prince Harry Move Back to the U.K. (Exclusive) TV Edward Bluemel Is Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot in BBC, BritBox First-Look Image for 'Hercule'

Austrian filmmaker Sandra Wollner and producers Lixi Frank, Viktoria Stolpe and David Bohun won the best narrative feature film award for Everytime , taking home 16,000 Euros. Led by Birgit Minichmayrhe, the film follows a mother, her young daughter and a teenage boy as they travel to Tenerife in a bid to cope with the tragic death of their eldest daughter and sister.

Wollner sat down with THR in Sarajevo to discuss taking the movie on the festival circuit. “The festival being founded during the siege in 1995, I think that’s very powerful,” she said about the Bosnian event. “And you can still feel something of that history here. I felt it yesterday when I had a radio interview. Just from some of the questions, you could get the sense that there might be a different way of approaching trauma or loss here, simply in the way people talked about the film.”

The jury said their decision was unanimous. “Moments of cinematic grace float through this mesmerically elastic and transcendental grief-soaked ghost story,” they wrote.

The best director prize went to Georgian filmmaker Ana Urushadze for Supporting Role , winning her 10,000 Euros for her next project. It follows Niaz Ninua (played by Dato Bakhtadze), a fading Georgian film star accustomed to playing heroic lead roles. After meeting with a young, female director, who offers him the chance to play a bizarre and deeply unsympathetic character in her debut feature, Niaz leaves the audition unconvinced (and pretty offended). But he soon embarks on something of an odyssey around the city and gradually surrenders to the role.

Urushadze said to THR earlier this week : “To me, ultimately, it’s a film about realizing the elusive nature of reality, and taking control of your life.” The judges said they were “enchanted by her irreverent blending of the banal and the oneiric.”

Elsewhere, Eva Kostić was awarded best actress for her performance in 17 , winning 2,500 Euros. “A fearless emergence of a young talent. Raw, visceral and deeply instinctive,” the jury said.

Best actor, meanwhile, went to Adrian Văncică for You Don’t Belong Here , which comes with the same cash prize as best actress.