11 August 2026

FROM: THANASIS NEOFOTISTOS
Film Director & Screenwriter
European Film Academy Member

TO: EUROPEAN FILM ACADEMY


Dear European Film Academy team,

I am writing to you as an EFA member and as a filmmaker from Southeast Europe regarding concerns that have gradually emerged for me around this year’s Sarajevo Film Festival & CineLink Industry Days.

What concerns me is a broader question of transparency, conflicts of interest and governance within one of the most influential film institutions in our region.

I was not previously aware of the extent of the overlapping professional relationships within the Sarajevo Film Festival ecosystem. It was only this year, because both my completed debut feature and my new project reached advanced stages of consideration, that I began following the final selections more closely and noticed a recurring pattern.

I want to make clear that this is not simply about the rejection of THE BOY WITH THE LIGHT-BLUE EYES or my new feature project, WILDBOARS. My film had its world premiere at SXSW London this June and is continuing its international journey.

A number of these overlaps concern Elma Tataragić, who has been with Sarajevo Film Festival since its founding in 1995 and is currently listed by the festival as programmer of the Competition Programme: Feature Film, Competition Programme: Short Film and In Focus Programme. Her own professional biography also describes her as main/senior/head programmer for the Competition Programmes.

Several situations therefore raised questions for me:

• THE BOY WITH THE LIGHT-BLUE EYES had reached the shortlist for Sarajevo’s Feature Film Competition. Elma herself informed me that the film had been discussed among the shortlisted titles. Following its SXSW London world premiere, the film remained eligible for Sarajevo’s In Focus programme, and I specifically asked Elma whether it could instead be considered there. The final In Focus programme included MOTHER, a film co-written by Elma herself.

• My new project WILDBOARS had also reached an advanced stage of consideration for CineLink Co-Production Market. In the rejection correspondence, the current Head of CineLink Asja Krsmanović described being deeply involved in reviewing submitted projects, discussing them and arriving at the final selection. One of the projects ultimately selected for the 2026 CineLink Co-Production Market, where it is eligible for industry awards and cash prizes, is WITH BLESSINGS ON YOUR WAY, co-written by Elma Tataragić, with Amra Bakšić Čamo among its producers and SCCA/pro.ba as co-production company.

• This relationship is particularly relevant because Amra Bakšić Čamo was the long-serving former Head of CineLink, while Elma and Amra are simultaneously creative collaborators on the selected project above. I have not been able to find publicly available information explaining what disclosure or recusal procedure was applied during that selection.

• In this year’s Narrative Short Film Competition, Sarajevo explicitly states that Elma selected the ten films from more than 700 titles. One of those ten is MAMAMA, produced by Amra Bakšić Čamo / SCCA/pro.ba, again placing a work by a current professional collaborator of Elma inside a competition she directly programs.

• These overlaps are not limited to this year. Elma has also had her own work presented and awarded within the Sarajevo Film Festival ecosystem, including a Heart of Sarajevo for Best Screenplay in 2024 for the TV series I KNOW YOUR SOUL. I mention this not to question the merit of the work, but because it further illustrates how closely the roles of head programmer, creator and participant can overlap within the same institution.

• (UPDATE) In this year’s programme, I DREAM, I LOSE / SANJAM, GUBIM, short film, directed and written by Elma Tataragić herself, is also included, adding another example of her simultaneous roles as programmer and participating filmmaker within the same festival ecosystem. Produced again by SCCA/pro.ba.

• The pattern also appears broader than these two individuals. Ishak Jalimam, former Head of CineLink and founder of Realstage, is producer of HEDGEHOGS IN THE HAZE, selected for CineLink Drama 2026, where it is eligible for industry awards and cash prize. This raises the same structural question regarding the movement between leadership, production and participation within the same institutional ecosystem.

These examples do not prove improper influence, and I am not questioning the artistic merits of any of the works selected.

But together they raise a legitimate institutional question:

► When current or former heads of industry programmes, heads of programming, writers, filmakers and producers repeatedly collaborate with one another while their projects are simultaneously selected, programmed, funded or awarded within the same festival ecosystem, what transparent safeguards exist to prevent actual or perceived conflicts of interest?

More specifically:

● Who makes the final selections in such cases?
● Which professional relationships are formally declared?
● When does recusal apply?
● Who independently reviews a decision when a programmer, selector or former programme head is directly connected to a participating project?

I am bringing these concerns to the European Film Academy not only because Sarajevo is a major institution within European cinema, but also because the Academy itself has a visible presence in this year’s edition. EFA Chair Ada Solomon is serving on a CineLink jury, while EFA CEO and Director Matthijs Wouter Knol is serving on the Feature Film Competition jury. For that reason, I believe it is especially important that any review of these concerns can take place through an independent EFA channel, without creating an actual or perceived conflict for those directly involved in Sarajevo this year.

I am not asking the EFA to intervene in programming decisions. I am asking whether concerns regarding transparency, disclosure, recusal and independent oversight can be reviewed when they affect filmmakers’ trust in major European cultural institutions.

I have already raised these concerns directly with the Festival Director, Jovan Marjanović, but received no response.

My cinematic greetings from Greece,
Thanasis Neofotistos
Film Director & Screenwriter
European Film Academy Member


________________________________________

*Supporting Sources & Documentation:

1. Sarajevo Film Festival – Competition Programme: Narrative Feature Film 2026

Confirms Elma Tataragić as programmer of the Feature Film Competition and the final competition lineup.

https://www.sff.ba/novost/12867/competition-programme-narrative-feature-film-2026

2. Sarajevo Film Festival – Competition Programme: Narrative Short Film 2026

States that Elma Tataragić selected the ten competing short films from more than 700 submissions and includes MAMAMA in the selection.

https://www.sff.ba/novost/12871/competition-programme-narrative-short-film-2026

3. Sarajevo Film Festival – Official Impressum

Lists Elma Tataragić as programmer of the Competition Programme – Feature Film, Competition Programme – Short Film and In Focus Programme.

https://www.sff.ba/en/page/impressum-up

4. Sarajevo Film Festival – Official Journal 32 / In Focus Programme 2026

The official festival programme lists MOTHER in the In Focus section, programmed by Elma Tataragić.

https://www.sff.ba/en/page/journal32_eng

5. CineLink Industry Days – WITH BLESSINGS ON YOUR WAY

Confirms Elma Tataragić as co-writer, Amra Bakšić Čamo as producer, and SCCA/pro.ba as co-production company.

https://www.cinelinkindustrydays.com/2026-cinelink-coproduction-market/copro-market-template-jse6t-6gbry-fn9wc-x8zs5-w9exe-67erc

6. Sarajevo Film Festival – Heart of Sarajevo for TV Series Awards 2024

Confirms awards received by works written/created by Elma Tataragić, including the Heart of Sarajevo for Best Screenplay for I KNOW YOUR SOUL.

https://www.sff.ba/en/news/12352/awarded-hearts-of-sarajevo-for-tv-series-best-drama-series-i-know-your-soul-best-comedy-smashing-it

7. Sarajevo Film Festival – CineLink Drama 2026 Selection

Confirms HEDGEHOGS IN THE HAZE, produced by former Head of CineLink Ishak Jalimam / Realstage, as part of CineLink Drama 2026.

https://www.sff.ba/en/news/12806/cinelink-industry-days-reveals-projects-selected-for-cinelink-drama-2026

8. (UPDATE) Elma Tataragić’s public Facebook post

Published on 12 August 2026, one day after this letter was submitted to the European Film Academy on 11 August 2026, and subsequently taken down. See archived screenshot here.

*Additional supporting documentation:

Private correspondence with Elma Tataragić confirming that THE BOY WITH THE LIGHT-BLUE EYES reached the Sarajevo Feature Film Competition shortlist, and correspondence with Asja Krsmanović concerning the CineLink selection process for WILDBOARS, available upon request.

-OPEN LETTER-

SUBJECT: EFA MEMBER CONCERN REGARDING TRANSPARENCY AND CONFLICTS OF INTEREST AT
SARAJEVO FILM FESTIVAL