The jury consisting of producer Lejla Dedić, director Goran Dević and critic Tue Stin Miller awarded “The Heart of Sarajevo” for the best documentary to Merry Christmas, Yiwu by Serbian director Mladen Kovačević.
Merry Christmas, Yiwu is, according to the authors and producers, an intimate film about the everyday life of Chinese workers, between the communist tradition and the newly established Chinese dream of success. The film takes us to Yiwu, a city with 600 Christmas decoration factories. The screenwriter and director is Mladen Kovačević, the producers are Iva Plemić Divjak, Mario Adamson and Ruth Reid, and the co-producers are: Jasmina Sijeričić, Hajno Dekert and Tjeri Detej. The editor is Jelena Maksimović, the director of photography is Marko Milovanović. The composer is Olof Dreijer. Patrik Stromdal took care of the design and mix of the sound, and Pavle Kovačević is the assistant for the post-production of the sound.
The film had its world premiere at the Rotterdam International Film Festival and its Nordic premiere at the Gothenburg Film Festival, after which it was part of the official selection of this year’s Hot Docs Festival in Canada. The film was created under the auspices of Horopter Film Production from Serbia and Sysifos Film Production from Sweden, in co-production with companies from France, Germany and Belgium, the German ARTE channel (GDR) and RTBF – Belgian national television. The creation of the film was supported, among others, by Film Center Serbia and the Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Serbia.