NOTE: The language spoken in this interview is Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian (link to English translation is below)

This episode of the Frontier Cafe features a conversation with Elma Tataragić. Elma currently works as a selector for the Competition Program for the Sarajevo Film Festival and is the President of the Filmmakers Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina. During our talk, we touched upon the history of Bosnian cinema, her work with film students, and the role of memory in film. 

Please enjoy our conversation demonstrating the untapped potential of films and their impact on local and global communities!

The interview is also available on YouTube with English captions.

Elma Tataragić (1976) is a scriptwriter, professor and festival programmer. She graduated Dramaturgy (Screenwriting and History of Cinema) at Sarajevo Academy of Performing Arts and obtained her Master of Science degree and Ph.D. in Film and Literature. She has been with Sarajevo Film Festival since it was founded in 1995, where she now works as selector for Competition Programs and CineLink Industry Days.

She co-wrote short film First Death Experience (2001) and wrote and produced short North Went Mad (2003), both directed by Aida Begić. She has produced and co-written the feature film Snow (2008) also directed by A. Begić, shown in the Semaine de la critique at Cannes Film Festival 2008, where the film won the Grand Prix. The film has been shown at over 80 festivals and won over 30 international awards. She is General Secretary and a member of Filmmakers Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina. She has been teaching screenwriting at Sarajevo Academy of Performing Arts since 2002, now as a professor.

She is member of European Film Academy and has published a book on screenwriting and is also works as a script consultant. In 2016 she has completed her short fiction film I Remember, which is successfully touring the world film festivals. The feature film When The Day Had No Name (2017) directed by Teona Mitevska which she has co-written premiered in Panorama Special at Berlinale 2017. She is currently in preproduction of two feature films she has written: Stitches to be directed by Serbia director Miroslav Terzić and God Exists And Her Name Is Petrunija by Macedonian director Teona Mitevska. She’s also developing a new feature and a short experimental films.

Source.

Click here to get the English translation of the interview.