BiH celebrates Creative Europe films: The Art of the Film Poster

Marking the European Year of Cultural Heritage and the contribution of the EU programme Creative Europe Media to the development of cinematography and audio-visual art, the EU Info Centre, the Sarajevo Academy of Fine Arts, and Sarajevo Film Festival organized the exhibition “The Art of the Film Poster”.

During the opening of the exhibition, the Charge d’Affaires of the Delegation of the European Union to BiH, Khaldoun Sinno, underlined the importance of culture as well as the support provided by the EU to cultural institutions in order to strengthen common cultural identity.

Culture plays an important role in the European Union’s activities. This year even more so as 2018 has been declared the European Year of Cultural Heritage and it is especially appropriate that we are here tonight in front of the building of the Academy of Fine Arts which itself is a cultural heritage monument”, Sinno stated, adding that Bosnia and Herzegovina has been gradually improving its capacities to withdraw funds available under the Creative Europe Programme, thus showcasing BiH’s creative capacities throughout Europe and the world.

The specificity and range of European film is exemplified in the diverse artistic and creative aspects of these posters. The exhibition showcases the creative versatility and artistic dedication to the design of the film poster, exemplary film photography, masterful use of illustration and the professional art of incorporating typography into the overall composition of the poster.

Each year, during Sarajevo Film Festival, Sarajevo is dedicated to celebrating cinematography and film achievements.  Mirsad Purivatra, Director of Sarajevo Film Festival, noted that the exhibition is the best introduction to Sarajevo Film Festival. “SFF has been a beneficiary of the Creative Europe programme, sub-programme MEDIA, for five years, and for us it has provided a great opportunity to develop the Festival the way we imagined it, while representing great recognition for us because a group of independent experts have placed us at the top of European film festivals,” said Purivatra.

Bojan Hadžihalilović, Professor at the Academy of Fine Arts, observed that the exhibited posters are designed to celebrate film, representing a beautiful example of the eternal partnership between film creators and designers. “The film posters that we see here today represent a cacophony of different styles and design solutions, sometimes using only typography, sometimes illustration, collage or original artistic visual sensations, which are often also part of the introduction to the film. So overall they represent the recognisable, unique style of film and unique form of communication with viewers,” said Hadžihalilović.

All of the films whose posters are exhibited were financed by the European Union programme Creative Europe, within the MEDIA sub-programme, which promotes common European values through cinematographic heritage. The sub-programme financially supports European film and audio-visual industries in the development, distribution and promotion of their work. It helps to launch projects with a European dimension and nurtures new technologies. The MEDIA sub-programme enables European films and audio-visual works that include feature films, television dramas, documentaries and new media to find markets beyond national and European borders, also funding training and film development schemes.

Bosnia and Herzegovina has been participating in the Creative Europe programme since 2013 and, to date, 98 projects have received funding in the total amount of EUR 1.720,000. Development of nine documentary and feature film projects has been supported, as well as the distribution of over 60 films.

The European Union has provided strong support to cultural heritage in the past and will continue to do so beyond the European Year of Cultural Heritage, given the fact that it is one of the key elements of overall EU policy in the region. For more information on European Year of Cultural Heritage please visit: http://europa.eu/cultural-heritage/about_en

Europa.ba