12-01-2021

BOX OFFICE: Domestic Market Share Increases in Bosnia and Herzegovina

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    Quo Vadis, Aida? by Jasmila Žbanić Quo Vadis, Aida? by Jasmila Žbanić

    SARAJEVO: The total 2020 box office in Bosnia and Herzegovina dropped by 70%, as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the domestic box office showed a 786% growth, from 4,425 EUR / 8,654 KM in 2019 to 39,224 EUR / 76,715.5 KM. Admissions to domestic films increased by 438% from 2,322 in 2019 to 12,499 in 2020.

    Focus, Grandma by Pjer ŽalicaAmerican films dominated the Bosnian and Herzegovinian box office in 2020, but with a visible decrease in share, from 83.59% in 2019 to 72.52% in 2020. Conversely, domestic film showed a rise in the market share from 0.18% in 2019 to 3.23% in 2020.

    A new distribution model has been used in Bosnia and Herzegovina for the first time. Jasmila Žbanić’s Quo Vadis, Aida? produced by Deblokada was released simultaneously in cinemas and on the Sarajevo Film Festival’s premium content VoD platform Meeting Point on Demand. Data from online distribution is still not available, but the film had a cinema success that has not been achieved by a domestic film in the last 10 years. It found its way into the Top 10 of films in 2020 according both to Box Office gross and admissions, with 36,162 EUR / 70,726.5 KM gross and 11,340 admissions. It is the only European film amongst the 2020 Top 10 in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

    Focus, Grandma / Koncentriši se baba by Pjer Žalica and produced by the Obala Art Centar, under the umbrella of Sarajevo Film Festival’s Sarajevo City of Film project, was the second best grossing domestic film released in 2020. It gained 4,298 KM in box office and recorded 786 admissions.

    Full Moon by Nermin HamzagićFull Moon / Pun mjesec, the debut feature by Nermin Hamzagić produced by SCCA/pro.ba, continued distribution from 2019, adding 847 EUR / 1,656 KM and 365 admissions to its 2019 results of 838.5 EUR / 1,640 KM gross and 425 admissions. Two more films, Good Day’s Work by Martin Turk and SEE Factory, both initially released in 2018 and produced by Obala Art Centar, had re-runs in 2020.

    A total of 109 films premiered in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2020, with another 27 films continuing distribution from 2019. The numbers show a 50% drop in released films compared to 219 films released in 2019.

    Total admissions decreased by 69.5% from 1,293,760 in 2019 to 387,691 admissions in 2020. Total box office decreased by 70% from 3,496,957 EUR / 6,839,454 KM in 2019 to 1,067,755 EUR / 2,088,347 KM in 2020.