SARAJEVO: ‘Ordinary People,’ a Serbian-language film about a massacre during Balkan wars in the 1990s, has taken best-picture honours at the 15th annual Sarajevo Film Festival, organisers said Friday.

The film — a Serbian, French and Swiss collaboration written and directed by Vladimir Perisic — won the Heart of Sarajevo prize at the end of the nine-day festival.

‘It explores the universal pattern of the abuse of young men through the military structure,’ the jury, chaired by Serbian actress Mirjana Karanovic, explained on the festival's website.

Serbia's Relja Popovic won best actor for his performance in ‘Ordinary People’ while best actress was shared by Anggeliki Papoulia and Mari Tsoni who both appeared in the Greek film ‘Dogtooth’.

More than 230 films from 50-plus countries, including a number of world premieres, were screened at the festival which ended Thursday night.

Launched as an act of resistance during the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia, the festival has grown to become the region's biggest film competition. Its guests this year included Hollywood stars Gillian Anderson and Mickey Rourke.