The 25th annual Sarajevo Film Festival (SFF) will be held under the patronage of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, (UNESCO) after the Organisation recognized the SFF as an event in line with their priorities aimed at promoting dialogue and tolerance through the arts, the UNESCO Director-General, Audrey Azoulay, wrote in a letter.

“I am confident that the 25th Sarajevo Film Festival and its programmes will contribute to giving access to films to a wide audience and to strengthening peace in Southern Europe”, Azoulay wrote.

“As the best known and the most prestigious film showcase in this part of Europe, the SFF sets a new standard of excellence each year. This year, it will be held under the patronage of the UNESCO. The Festival is an excellent example of how Bosnia's high-quality projects can be competitive internationally, and as such it deserves our compliments and congratulations,” said Adil Osmanovic, the Civil Affairs Minister and President of Bosnia's National Commission for UNESCO.

“During the Festival, Sarajevo Canton's Tourism Board registered a record number of visitors. Last year, we registered 78,000 visitors in Sarajevo during August. For comparison, the average monthly number of tourists in Sarajevo stands at 48,000. In other words, the number of domestic and international visitors nearly doubles during the Festival,” the head of Sarajevo Canton's Tourism Board Nermin Muzur said.

The Director of the SFF, Mirsad Purivatra, said they are pleased that UNESCO acknowledged the Festival as an event that preserves Bosnia's cultural heritage and promotes diversity.

“From the very start, we have been inspired by art, and it helped us create new values and break the existing social and cultural barriers,” Purivatra said.