In the course of a single festival day, a film can make us laugh, frighten us, keep us in suspense or leave us with a story we continue talking about long after the closing credits. Genres change, as do the titles on the programme, but what we most often take with us from the cinema is still an emotion.
That was also the starting point for UniCredit Bank this year. Through its long-standing partnership with the Sarajevo Film Festival and the We Love Film platform, the Bank connected its support for film art precisely with what happens between the screen and the audience: the different feelings that make us experience completely different films as our own experiences.
The creative idea for the campaign was developed by BBDO Sarajevo, while its visual concept was built through a series of photographs depicting emotions characteristic of different film genres, from drama and comedy to action and horror. Instead of retelling film stories, the focus is on the reactions they provoke.
Actors Matea Mavrak and Amar Selimović took the leading roles, with their faces conveying love, fear, laughter and suspense across different shots.
“Film is there to awaken emotions in us. Matea Mavrak and Amar Selimović, our recognisable duo, portrayed this brilliantly. A single shot is enough to show love, fear, laughter and suspense. The shifts between genres are brought together in a visual and musical story that reminds us of the purpose of film art: to encourage us to think, but also to make us laugh. And that brings us to the conclusion that – We Love Film!” says Almir Kurt Kugla, Creative Director at BBDO Sarajevo.
The Festival Is Lived Between Screenings Too
The visuals were only one layer of the brand’s presence. The real value of the campaign entered those small, very concrete moments of a festival day: while looking for a ticket, choosing the next film, making your way through the crowd at the entrance or trying to catch one more screening before it begins.
UniCredit Bank clients were offered discounts when purchasing tickets online and faster access at the main festival points, while Student Account users received additional benefits. In the rhythm in which the day is put together from one screening to the next, such benefits become part of the experience, almost unnoticed, yet very concrete.
The Festival, of course, is not remembered only for its films. Photographs, encounters, details from around the city and titles that remain part of the conversation for days also stay with us. This is where the audience took on a more active role: through Best Festival Photos, they captured their own view of festival Sarajevo, while through the UniCredit Audience Award, they chose the films that stayed closest to them.
In this way, We Love Film gained meaning beyond the message itself. Film was not loved only on a poster or in a campaign shot, but through an entire series of small festival experiences: from the first ticket purchased and entering the cinema to a photograph saved on a phone and a vote cast for the film we want to remember.
“Our goal is to offer the audience added value and a unique experience, enabling them to experience the festival in a special, UniCredit way. In cooperation with the BBDO Sarajevo agency, we developed a campaign that managed to convey the message through simple, authentic and emotional expression. And this year, in addition to celebrating art, we went one step further and made an additional contribution to the community through our party during the Festival, which brought together art and social responsibility,” said Selma Riđanović Kenović, Director of Identity and Communications at UniCredit Bank.
Festival Fashion with a Humanitarian Purpose
The step beyond classic festival sponsorship was particularly visible at the World Elite Party, organised to mark the presentation of the new World Elite card. That evening, film met another important part of festival Sarajevo: fashion.
The fashion show brought back to life some of the most memorable looks from the Sarajevo Film Festival red carpet, through creations by Amira Pertesi, Amna Kunovac Zekić, Belma Tvico, Elysian, Emina Husedžinović Ibrahimović, Jasna Hadžimehmedović Bekrić, La Jupe, LoveRich and Ljiljana Majkić.
The return of the creations to the festival stage also continued beyond the fashion show itself. UniCredit Bank purchased all the dresses presented and donated them to the Think Pink – Together We Are One association. In October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the dresses will be offered at a charity auction, with the proceeds directed towards the Association’s activities dedicated to the early detection of the disease and support for women facing breast cancer.
In the end, We Love Film did not remain just a slogan accompanying the Festival. It moved through the very things for which audiences remember it: the emotion in the cinema, the crowds before screenings, photographs from the city, a vote for the film that left a mark and an evening in which the film and fashion scenes came together with a humanitarian initiative. This is where the partnership reaches its full measure – when it does not end with the final screening, but when part of the festival energy remains present even after the programme is over.
Client: UniCredit Bank
Agency: BBDO
Creative Director: Almir Kurt
For the client: Selma Riđanović Kenović, Adela Ićindić, Naida Alić Kuduz, Ermin Pačariz, Inajda Joldo, Arnela Milić
Fashion Show:
Director: Aleksandra Lovrić
Stylist: Gordana Gasha Miladinović
Choreographer: Džejla Glavović
Hair: Ensar Dervišbegović
MUA: Renata Ponjević
Backstage Manager: Duška Vujmilović Kukavica
Music: Enes Zlatar Bure and Enis Voloder
Intro Video: Midhat Mujkić
Animation: Admir Šarkić, New Event agency
Event Agency: New Event
