“Thank you for not forgetting us after all these years”, said sisters Šima and Draženka Čuljak after Herzegovinian premiere of the film “Sisters” at Mediterranean Film Festival.

The film was screened 33 years 7 months and 9 days after the event, which was confirmed by one of the sisters’ rescuers from 1985. The film "Sisters" attracted more than a thousand visitors, which confirmed that Široki Brijeg is one more film centre in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Zdenko Jurilj, director of the film, said that it is not a classic documentary reconstruction of the event. "This is our view of the sisters' lives, our depiction of the psychology of those seven days, which they spent trapped in the abyss that winter", said Jurilj pointing that the film already has some positive reviews. Sisters said that the evening in Široki Brijeg was more emotional than the Sarajevo premiere. 

Tomislav Topić, the festival director, said that the greatest interest of the audience is shown for this film.“We are trying to make a home film. We are the only from BiH that had a documentary in the main programme of Sarajevo Film Festival. We are very proud of creating the filmmaking industry in Široki Brijeg”, said Topić. 

Tomislav Ruk, as a representative of HT Eronet, the main sponsor of the festival, said that the company is happy and proud to be the festival sponsor, “the festival which is no longer a miracle, but the tradition”. He pointed that they are proud of the project of the platform for audience voting and awarding the viewers. 

Robert Bubalo, the producer of the festival, said that this story has been lasting for 19 years and that the festival has created a new centre of cinematography that has been growing in Široki Brijeg and Herzegovina.   

"What is really important is that this festival, in addition to commercial sponsors and foreign governments, is supported by state institutions and foundations, it is important that the money is invested in growing projects. The HBO has also recognised us and discovered the garden of talents. The Mediterranean is the nursery of culture and that is visible here, said Bubalo.

The film ‘My Condolences’, created at the MFF School workshop was screened at the opening of the 19th Festival. As Lucy Eagleson Ribich and Luke Grigg, the workshop mentors said this film brings a ‘true Herzegovinian story put within a dark comedy frames’ and they have made a huge step frorward this year. 

Grigg said that he was proud to work with these young people, stressing that these are wonderful young people. The story was filmed by the kids from the USA, Slovenia, Croatia and BiH, and the film workshop project is supported by the US Embassy in BiH. 

Holly Zardus, the attaché of Culture and Education at the United States Embassy in BiH, said she was pleased that she could greet the audience on behalf of the USA and even though she is in BiH for a short time, she has already heard a lot about the quality of the MFF and the film school.

“I've already heard very good things about the MFF and the excellent work you do. Therefore, I am very pleased to sponsor this valuable work this year again, as well as the energy MFF invests in attracting young people to the film industry. I wish all the best for future filmmakers with the desire to achieve a career in the film industry', said Zardus.

The competition program started with the screening of the Spanish documentary ‘Tauromachy’, directed by Jaime Alekos and film ‘Babylonia my Love’, directed by Pierpaolo Verdecchi from Italy.   

On the first festival day there was also the screening of  eight master pieces of BH cinematography, which were both the audience’s and the jury’s favourite at festivals all over the world at the time. This is cooperation with the Film Centre Sarajevo, which is carrying out the activity 'Preserve the film treasure of BH'. 

The quartet Film music orchestra was in charge of the music at the festival square. 

There are ten feature documentaries in the competition that will compete for the MFF Projector award, the ‘Grand Prix – Jack Daniel’s’, and short documentary films that compete for MFF Projector award ‘Best Short’. The audience will also choose the best film by their opinion and this one is wining the MFF Projector ‘Audience Award’. 

The general sponsor of the Mediterranean Film Festival is HT Eronet, and the Festival is supported by the US Embassy in BiH and the Office of the EU Special Representative in BiH.