A new initiative called Sister Sister will debut at the Sarajevo Film Festival, bringing together prominent female filmmakers to address women’s representation in cinema and television. The project, launched by North Macedonian director Teona Mitevska and French filmmaker Céline Sciamma, aims to establish a “bold, punk and revolutionary” framework for creating a more inclusive screen industry across the region.
The initiative will feature a think tank bringing together female filmmakers, producers, writers and academics from former Yugoslavia to discuss the future of women’s creative work in regional cinema. Three moderated roundtables will allow participants to identify obstacles, exchange perspectives and develop actionable strategies for building a more equitable and sustainable audiovisual sector. The organizers plan to compile these discussions into a collective manifesto addressing shared concerns and aspirations.
Mitevska conceived the idea during a conversation with Sarajevo Film Festival programmer Asja Krsmanović following her film “Mother’s” premiere at the Manaki Brothers Film Festival. She later invited Sciamma, whom she met at Venice in 2023, to co-lead the effort. A featured panel titled “Are We Radical Enough? Reclaiming and Redefining Women’s Authorship in European Cinema” will include Sciamma alongside Serbian director Jelena Maksimović and Kosovo-born filmmaker Blerta Basholli, taking place on August 20 in the Festival Garden.
Originally reported by Variety →
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