Nearly one hundred guests have visited the 24th Sarajevo Film Festival according to the first estimates, the organisers said. The festival's official part ended on Thursday evening with the award ceremony.

The goal has been achieved, the festival's management said. They brought renowned names of the film industry to the city, Pawel Pawlikowski, Asghar Farhadi, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, and many others.

“We focused on the quality and that's what reflected on the film selection. All people I met said they were thrilled by the selection,” said SFF Director, Mirsad Purivatra.

According to him, the millions of Euros worth of jobs were arranged during the festival and young talented people were happy with what they learned from their lecturers. “So I think this was an important reason why so many people are congratulating now and saying they enjoyed the festival.”

Purivatra said this year's edition of the SFF was the best so far and that Bosnian capital city has truly become a place of gathering for the film industry of the whole region.

“This year some important events were held within the SFF such as the co-production agreement between Bosnia and Herzegovina and France,” SFF Spokesperson, Andrijana Copf, said.

The SFF week was followed by, as the visitors said, loads of positive energy.

“I am here in Sarajevo for the past ten days. I come from Maribor (Slovenia) and what can I say, Sarajevo is the best, it's a European city,” said a Slovenian tourist.

The locals share the same quantity of enthusiasm.

“I am more than happy. This was one of the best festivals we have had,” a Sarajevan said.

The last festival day, August 17, has been saved for the screenings of the award winners.

266 films from 56 countries, including the world and the regional premieres, were screened during the SFF week. Accredited were the reporters from 30 countries, while 580 volunteers from 20 countries gave their contribution to this event.