Sarajevo Film Festival is introducing a new award category: Hearts of Sarajevo for TV Series, to promote high-quality regional television series and their authors, actors, and actresses, and to heighten their international appeal, the festival announced on Wednesday.

TV drama series and comedies that premiered fin the period September 1, 2019 to May 31, 2021 from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Kosovo and Slovenia, will compete for the awards in this section.

“With the new awards for TV series, the Festival honours the work and achievements of authors and producers of television series and confirms Festival’s commitment as a place of discoveries, development, and promotion of high-quality audio-visual content. The Sarajevo Film Festival follows regional TV series from their inceptions, like an idea on paper, to their premiere. Our goal is to help ‘to export’ regional series to the international market, connect producers with international players, to bring regional content to global platforms or programmes of television networks around the world. Sarajevo Film Festival, with its Avant Premiere programme, will remain the place for promotion of new regional series, and with its annual awards it is becoming the place that confirms their quality by professionals across the region”, said Jovan Marjanovic, Sarajevo Film Festival's Head of Industry.

The jury consisting of several hundred film and television professionals from the territory of former Yugoslavia will decide on the award winners in this category.

The best series will be awarded in the following sub-categories: Best Drama Series, Best Comedy, Best Series Creator(s), Best Actress, Best Actor, and Rising Star. A special award ceremony will be held during the 27th Sarajevo Film Festival.

The 27th Sarajevo Film Festival is opening on August 13 and will last through August 20, 2021.