The 24th Sarajevo Film Festival officially opens Friday evening with a series of events. The solemn opening ceremony will be hosted by actor Alban Ukaj, the organizers announced.

Traditionally, the opening ceremony will be held at the National Theatre in Sarajevo and will gather numerous guests, audience, and the festival's friends.

Sarajevo Film Festival, as a festival that discovers new generations who will lead regional cinema in the future, takes a great pleasure of giving the opening ceremony host role to the younger generation of successful film artists as a sign of support to young regional filmmakers. This year the honour to host the event is given to Ukaj.

The Pristina-born actor who graduated from the Academy of Performing Arts in Sarajevo was awarded several times for the best actor at theatre festivals in the country and the region. He is a permanent member of the Sarajevo War Theatre (SARTR) ensemble.

Ukaj's first short feature film Horse was awarded at several international festivals in Europe and America, including major awards. He is the co-founder of the association for promotion and exploration of performing arts in Bosnia and Herzegovina Kontakt where he also produces plays, such as this year's Welcome performance.

This year's edition of the Sarajevo Film Festival opens on August 10, with the screening of the Cold War, a movie by Polish filmmaker and Oscar winner Pawel Pawlikowski, and closes down seven days later.