Layla Benitez will headline this year’s Sarajevo Film Festival closing party on August 22nd, continuing the festival’s tradition of bringing internationally acclaimed DJs to perform on Sarajevo’s busiest street.
Sarajevo Film Festival’s closing party tradition
Sarajevo Film Festival turns the city in the epicentre of the region for a week every summer. With prior attendances from A-list celebrities such as Robert De Niro, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Michael Moore, Kevin Spacey, and Meg Ryan amongst many others, it’s not difficult to see why.
Every year during the festival, city’s nightlife is pack full of events, with world-class DJs performing at various venues throughout the city every night. Since 2019, the festival also ends with a bang, with a giant open air party in the city’s busiest road, with over 30k people dancing as one.
Prior headliners include Bosnia’s own Solomun (2019 and 2022), Ukrainian duo ARTBAT (2023), and Swiss duo Adriatique (2024).
This year’s headliner: Layla Benitez
Known for her sophisticated melodic house and techno, New York based Layla Benitez has headlined festivals such as Coachella, EDC Orlando, and Creamfields. She had her own night at the legendary Sphere in Las Vegas and joined Eric Prydz for his 20 Years of Pryda tour in Seattle just a couple of months ago.
She is also the daughter of legendary New York producer John ‘Jellybean’ Benitez, who helped shape Madonna’s career early on. Between 1984 and 1991, 9 tracks produced by him reached the top ten of the Billboard’s Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart, including three number ones.
3 tracks to get you in the mood
Released on Valentine’s Day this year, ‘Broken Love’ captures the essence of Layla’s style, with her signature melodic sound perflectly blending with Frynn’s emotive vocals.
‘Fizzy Pop’, her 2022 single, takes you on a journey, starting with a simple drum loop before chords and vocals by Max Milner start slowly kicking in, transforming the track into a love song.
‘Toxic Trip’ is a bit more of a peaktime track, blending melodic and tech house into one. This track features Miloushka, whose collaboration with Jamie Jones reached #10 in our best singles of 2024 chart.
Who else will be performing?
Additional support will include After Affair, Sarajevo’s most famous DJ duo, as well as Doel and Lubnya.
Entrance to the Sarajevo’s biggest party of the year is free of charge.
August 5th Update: An article was updated to include additional line-up.
