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When the Sarajevo Film Festival was born in the midst of the Bosnian War in 1995, the festival’s initial aim was to reconstruct and regenerate the capital city and its inhabitants who had been cut off from the rest of the world during the four-year siege. With the festival set to kick off its 30th edition on Friday, these early objectives – to support the local industry while also driving the city forward – still remain as this year’s edition will see the event move the bulk of its events from its usual home in Sarajevo’s old town to the Marijin Dvor neighborhood, a modern district of the city.

For festival director Jovan Marjanović, it’s a move that will signify a new era of a much-loved festival that has served as an essential launching pad for regional talent. “We’re testing the waters with this new place,” he tells Deadline.

For a richly pedigreed event that is intimately woven into the fabric of its host city, the Sarajevo Film Festival could be forgiven for resting on its laurels and choosing its 30th edition as an opportunity to look back — to reflect on its storied beginnings during the four-year siege that all but reduced the Bosnian capital to rubble in the early-1990s.

Instead, the organizers are introducing sweeping changes that will alter the look and feel of the event moving forward, with the nucleus of festival activities shifting from its historic home in the heart of Sarajevo’s old town to the modern part of the city.

Festival director Jovan Marjanović, who joined the Sarajevo fest two decades ago as a fresh-faced high-school graduate, tells Variety that while this year’s event will certainly pay homage to the past, festival leadership is “fully focused on the future,” adding: “I think...