iW NEWS | "Snow" and "24 City" to Open 14th Sarajevo Film Festival

Bosnian director Aida Begic's "Snow" will open the 14th Sarajevo Film Festival, taking place August 15 - 23, launching the event which will screen 174 films in 12 programs. The film, which won Critics Week at the Cannes Film Festival, takes place in post-war Bosnia in which a family is faced with the prospect of leaving their town in return for money from unscrupulous businessmen. Chinese director Jia Zhang-ke's "24 City" will open the festival's Panorama section the same evening. The film chronicles China's rapid change from the building of the Three Gorges Dam to the country's rampant commericalism. Director Todd Haynes will be among the guests attending this year's festival along with writer/director Charlie Kaufman, director Terry George and actor Kevin Spacey. In addition to the fest's main section and Panorama, there will also be a children's and teen festival. For more information and a list of programmed films, visit the festival's website. [indieWIRE's Brian Brooks will be attending the festival and will publish dispatches from the event next week.]