Jasmila Žbanić’s ‘I Know Your Soul’ Dominates Heart Of Sarajevo TV Awards

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Bosnian drama I Know Your Soul was the biggest winner at this year’s Heart of Sarajevo awards for TV Series, the Sarajevo Film Festival’s awards strand for TV shows, as the show nearly swept the drama categories. The six-part series, which is written by Oscar-nominated Bosnian filmmaker Jasmila Žbanić (Quo Vadis, Aida?), took seven wins including Best Drama, Best Script – Drama, Best Directing – Drama and many of the drama acting categories.

The series, which world premiered at the Venice Film Festival last year, saw Žbanić take home the award for Best Script – Drama Series while Nermin Hamzagić won for Best Directing – Drama.

The show’s lead actress, Jasna Duričić, won Best Actress – Drama, while Jelena Kordić Kuret won Best Supporting Actress – Drama and Mirvad Kurić took Best Supporting Actor – Drama. Lazar Dragojević also took the Rising Star – Drama award.

I Know Your Soul is a six-part series that sees Duričić play Nervena, a prosecutor in the process of a divorce and a single mother to a teenage son. When she investigates an adolescents’ suicide, it triggers an avalanche of events in her personal and professional life. HBO Max acquired the show for Central and Eastern Europe last year and Žbanić also produced and served as showrunner. Last year the Bosnian auteur also directed an episode of HBO’s smash The Last of Us.

Serbian actor Žarko Laušević, who passed away in November 2023, took a posthumous award for Best Actor – Drama for his role in World War I drama Time of Death.

In the comedy categories, Bosnian series Smashing It and Serbian series Radio Mileva each won three awards with Smashing It taking Best Comedy, Best Actor – Comedy for Alen Muratović and Best Script – Comedy for writers Elma Tataragić, Dušan Vranić and Enes Zlatar. Radio Mileva’s Olga Odanović won Best Actress – Comedy while Elmir Jukić won Best Directing – Comedy and the show’s Kris Gavrić won Rising Star – Comedy.

Drama series and comedies from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Kosovo and Slovenia that premiered between April 1, 2023 and April 30, 2024 were considered for the awards this year. A professional jury composed of film and TV professionals casted an electronic vote and determined the selection of nominated series and winners for the Heart of Sarajevo Awards.

Here’s the full list of winners:

Best Drama Series

ZNAM KAKO DIŠEŠ / I KNOW YOUR SOUL

Best Actress in a Drama Series

Jasna Đuričić

ZNAM KAKO DIŠEŠ / I KNOW YOUR SOUL

Best Actor in a Drama Series

Žarko Laušević (1960. – 2023.)

VREME SMRTI / TIME OF DEATH

Best Supporting Role – Actress in a Drama Series

Jelena Kordić Kuret

ZNAM KAKO DIŠEŠ / I KNOW YOUR SOUL

Best Supporting role – Actor in a Drama Series

Mirvad Kurić

ZNAM KAKO DIŠEŠ / I KNOW YOUR SOUL

Rising star – Drama Series

Lazar Dragojević