MEET THE FILMMAKERS: BHFF PRESENTS ACTOR IZUDIN BAJROVIĆ, CHRIS LESLIE AND MATTHEW SOMERVILLE 

New York City, April 2022 — The Bosnian-Herzegovinian Film Festival (BHFF) is pleased to announce the fourth round of special guests for its 18th annual event: Bosnian theater, film television actor Izudin Bajrović, award winning photographer and filmmaker Chris Leslie, documentary photographer and founder of Sava Films Matthew Somerville.

Our guests will be joining us after the screening of their films at this year's festival for a conversation moderated by BHFF Programming Co-Directors Dijana Jelača and Amir Husak, followed by a live audience Q&A.

Izudin Bajrović is a Bosnian theater and film actor. He has played a number of roles in theaters in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Slovenia, Sweden and Switzerland, and for a time worked as a professor at the Academy of Performing Arts in Sarajevo. In July 2018, he became acting Director of the National Theater Sarajevo. His most important theater roles include: The Three Sisters, The Miracle in the Latin Quarter, The Fire of Passion, Tear Off Your Wife, The Wall, Alkestis, Hamlet, Death and the Dervish, The Fortress, The Hamlet Machine, Quartet, In the Solitude of Cotton Fields, The Cops, American Bison, Lineina the Beauty , Philoctetes, Danton's Death, Leonce and Lena, Woyzeck, Kraljevo, Art, Antigone in New York, I Left my Heart in Zvornik, Romeo and Juliet, The Auditor, The Legend of Ali Pasha, The First Time with My Father at the Elections, Midnight Game, A Game of Crying, Richard III, Two on the Bridge, If This Were a Movie…, The Balkan Spy in Sarajevo. His film roles include: The Remake, A Burning Fire, At Uncle Idriz's, The Living and the Dead, The Warriors, Halima's Way, Death in Sarajevo, Not So Friendly Neighborhood Affair, the Darkroom. His TV roles include: The Wounded, Major Atherton's Mission, A Visa for the Future, The Black Chronicle, Dad and His Sons-in-law. He is currently the director of the Sarajevo National Theater.

Chris Leslie is an award winning photographer and filmmaker. He has documented stories across Eastern Europe, The Balkans, Africa and Asia as well as in his home city, Glasgow. His best selling book Disappearing Glasgow documents the changing face of Glasgow and has seen him acknowledged as the most consistent chronicler of the city's recent history. His first feature length documentary film Finding Family was awarded two Scottish BAFTAs in the New Talent strand as well as 2 Golden Apple Awards at the BHFFNYC in 2014. The film was later shown across the world after being broadcast by Al Jazeera.

Matthew Somerville is an image collector-cum-filmmaker from London. He has a background in documentary photography and is and is interested in humans and the way we relate to our physical environment. Through his work he aims to challenge stereotypes and show how connected and disconnected we are from the natural world. Matthew has run Sava Films and documentary collective Configure/Disfigure since 2013 and is currently working on two feature films among other projects. He previously directed the short films Fotia (2016) and Mothman (2018).

UPOZNAJTE FILMSKE UMJETNIKE: BHFF PREDSTAVLJA GLUMCA IZUDINA BAJROVIĆA, CHRIS LESLIE I MATTHEW SOMERVILLE 

Gosti će nam se pridružiti nakon projekcije svojih filmova na ovogodišnjem festivalu u razgovoru koji će moderirati kodirektori programa BHFF-a Dijana Jelača i Amir Husak, nakon čega će uslijediti pitanja i odgovori sa publikom uživo.

Izudin Bajrović je bosanskohercegovački kazališni i filmski glumac. Odigrao je veliki broj uloga u kazalištima u Bosni i Hercegovini, Crnoj Gori, Sloveniji, Švedskoj i Švicarskoj, a jedno je vrijeme radio i kao profesor na Akademiji scenskih umjetnosti u Sarajevu. U srpnju 2018. godine je postao v.d. direktora Narodnog kazališta Sarajevo. Najznačajnije uloge u predstavama: Tri sestre, Čudo u Latinluku, Požar strasti, Kidaj od svoje žene, Zid,Alkestis, Hamlet, Derviš i smrt, Tvrđava, Hamlet-mašina, Kvartet, U samoći pamučnih polja, Policajci, Američki bizon, Ljepotica Lineina, Filoktet, Dantonova smrt, Leonce i Lena, Woyzeck, Kraljevo, Art, Antigona u New Yorku, U Zvorniku ja sam ostavio svoje srce, Romeo i Julija, Revizor, Legenda o Ali-paši, Prvi put s ocem na izbore, Ponoćna igra, Igra plakanja, Richard III, Dvojica na mostu, Kad bi ovo bio film…, Balkanski špijun u Sarajevu. Ostvario uloge u filmovima: Remake, Gori vatra, Kod amidže Idriza, Živi i mrtvi, The Warriors, Halimin put, Smrt u Sarajevu, Deset u Pola, Darkroom.Glumio u tv serijama: Ranjenik, Misija majora Atertona, Viza za budućnost, Crna hronika, Tata i zetovi. Trenutno obnaša funkciju direktora Narodnog pozorišta Sarajevo

Chris Leslie je nagrađivani fotograf i režiser. Dokumentovao je priče širom istočne Evrope, Balkana, Afrike i Azije, kao i u svom rodnom gradu Glazgovu. Njegova najprodavanija knjiga Nestanak Glasgowa dokumentira promjenjivo lice Glazgova i s tom knjigom postaje najdosljedniji hroničar novije istorije grada. Njegov prvi dugometražni dokumentarni film Finding Family osvojio je dvije škotske BAFTA-e u sklopu New Talent, kao i 2 nagrade Zlatna jabuka na BHFFNYC-u 2014. Film je kasnije prikazan širom svijeta nakon što ga je emitovala Al Jazeera.

Matthew Somerville je kolekcionar slika i snimatelj iz Londona. Bavi se dokumentarnmj fotografijom i zanimaju ga ljudi i način na koji se odnosimo prema našem fizičkom okruženju. Svojim radom nastoji da poljulja stereotipe i pokaže koliko smo povezani i nepovezani sa prirodnim svijetom. Matthew vodi Sava Films i dokumentarni kolektiv Configure/Disfigure od 2013. godine, a trenutno radi na dva igrana filma, između ostalih projekata. Prethodno je režirao kratke filmove Fotia (2016) i Mothman (2018).