The city of Sarajevo is the first winner of the Global Production award in the category City of Film, which was awarded for the first time this year in Cannes, Klix.ba informs.

The winners of the awards established by the prestigious world cinema magazine Screen International to recognize outstanding work achievements in support of film and TV productions worldwide, were announced at a ceremony held this Monday evening during the Cannes Film Festival.

The Global Production Awards were awarded for the first time this year and the jury of Screen International, one of the three professional publications with the largest distribution in the world, recognized Sarajevo as the best Film City. With numerous applications, it was shortlisted in the category with only 3 other cities in the world - Wellington (New Zealand), Calgary (Canada) and Trollhättan – Trollywood (Sweden).

'The awarding of the Global Production award is a great recognition for the invested efforts and achieved results in film production, first of all for the Obala Art Center as the holder of the application on behalf of the City of Sarajevo. This prestigious award clearly proves the fact that Sarajevo has been recognized as a center of film culture and that we as a city decided that the creative industry and film will be the drivers of the cultural, economic and social development of the city', said the Mayor of Sarajevo Benjamina Karić.

The Global Production Awards recognize organizations that have set high standards in the cinema and TV industry including studios, production companies, film locations and other activities in the film industry. 'The Global Production award is extremely significant for Sarajevo, it means that the strategy for the development of the film and TV industry in the city is recognized as extremely high-quality. We're proud of this recognition and I think it will become an incentive for institutions and the sector for even greater progress in the future,' said the director of the Sarajevo Film Festival Jovan Marjanović.

The Global Production Awards recognizes the best productions, exceptional and prospective film locations as well as prominent works in the field of sustainable production and diversity. The holder of the application for the Global Production awards on behalf of the City of Sarajevo is the Obala Art Centar, the management unit of Sarajevo UNESCO City of Film.