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Sarajevo Film Festival Unveils Lineup Exploring Life and Survival in 'Unstable Social Frameworks'
The Sarajevo Film Festival in Bosnia and Herzegovina unveiled the lineup for its 31st edition on Wednesday. The festival's four competition sections – for feature, documentary, short and student films – will feature 15 world, six international, 28 regional and two national premieres. A total of 50 films will compete for the Heart of Sarajevo awards. This year, the Sarajevo festival programmers team, led by creative director Izeta Građević, watched 1,036 films, including 195 feature fiction films, 291 documentaries, and 550 shorts and student titles. 'The competition programs of the 31st Sarajevo Film Festival bring together filmmakers who, each from their own perspective and in various film formats and genres, explore how we live and how we survive within complex and unstable social frameworks,' said Građević. 'The backbone of this year's competition programs are films that, transcending national boundaries, remain true to the universal stories that shape our lives. In this range – from topics that deal with today to those that question the past – this selection opens up space to remember, through film stories, what we all have in common: the need for meaning, for closeness, for understanding – ourselves and others.'
Elma Tataragić, the programmer of the competition program – feature film, said that the section's nine films include three world premieres and six regional premieres, making for 'an impressive and diverse panorama of contemporary regional cinema.' Touting 'a dynamic mix of bold narration, visual innovation and fresh perspectives that reflect the richness of the region's cultural tapestry,' she highlighted that the competition includes six debut films that 'bring original voices and bold creative approaches to the big screen.'
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Italian auteur Paolo Sorrentino will receive this year's Honorary Heart of Sarajevo award. The Sarajevo fest runs Aug. 15-22.
Check out the full Sarajevo lineup below.
COMPETITION PROGRAM – FEATURE FILM
OTTER (VIDRA), Srđan Vuletić (Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy, Croatia, Kosovo, 2025, 88 min.) – World premiere STARS OF LITTLE IMPORTANCE (MINDEN CSILLAG), Renátó Olasz (Hungary, 2025, 83 min.) – World premiere YUGO FLORIDA, Vladimir Tagić (Serbia, Bulgaria, France, Croatia, Montenegro, 2025, 112 min.) – World premiere DJ AHMET, Georgi M. Unkovski (North Macedonia, Czech Republic, Serbia, Croatia, 2025, 99 min.) – Regional premiere FANTASY, Kukla (Slovenia, North Macedonia, 2025, 98 min.) – Regional premiere GOD WILL NOT HELP (BOG NEĆE POMOĆI), Hana Jušić (Croatia, Italy, Romania, Greece, France, Slovenia, 2025, 135 min.) – Regional premiere SORELLA DI CLAUSURA, Ivana Mladenović (Romania, Serbia, Italy, Spain, 2025, 103 min.) – Regional premiere WHITE SNAIL, Elsa Kremser, Levin Peter (Austria, Germany, 2025, 115 min.) – Regional premiere WIND, TALK TO ME (VETRE, PRIČAJ SA MNOM), Stefan Đorđević (Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, 2025, 100 min.) – Regional premiere
COMPETITION PROGRAM – DOCUMENTARY FILM
BOSNIAN KNIGHT (BOSANSKI VITEZ), Tarik Hodžić (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, 2025, 79 min.) – World premiere I SAW A 'SUNO' (SUNO DIKHLEM), Katalin Barsony (Hungary, Belgium, 2025, 92 min.) – World premiere KITE (CHARTAETOS), Thanos Psichogios (Greece, 2025, 15 min.) – World premiere STEEL HOTEL SONG, Bojan Stojčić (Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2025, 19 min.) – World premiere LETTERS (PISMA), Aysel Küçüksu (Bulgaria, 2025, 11 min.) – International premiere MY DAD'S LESSONS (LEKCIJE MOG TATE), Dalija Dozet (Croatia, 2025, 62 min.) – International premiere RED SLIDE (CRVENI TOBOGAN), Nebojša Slijepčević (Croatia, 2025, 27 min.) – International premiere THIRD WORLD (TREĆI SVIJET), Arsen Oremović (Croatia, 2025, 101 min.) – International premiere CUBA & ALASKA, Yegor Troyanovsky (Ukraine, France, Belgium, 2025, 93 min.) – Regional premiere DIVIA, Dmytro Hreshko (Ukraine, Poland, The Netherlands, USA, 2025, 79 min.) – Regional premiere DREAMERS: PEOPLE OF THE LIGHT (XƏYALPƏRƏSTLƏR: İŞIĞIN UŞAQLARI), Imam Hasanov (Azerbaijan, 2025, 86 min.) – Regional premiere EVERYTIME YOU LEAVE, YOU ARE BORN AGAIN (SVAKI PUT KAD ODEŠ, PONOVO SE RAĐAŠ), Mladen Bundalo (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belgium, 2025, 24 min.) – Regional premiere I BELIEVE THE PORTRAIT SAVED ME (MUA BESOJ MË SHPËTOJ PORTRETI), Alban Muja (Kosovo, The Netherlands, 2025, 10 min.) – Regional premiere IN HELL WITH IVO, Kristina Nikolova (Bulgaria, USA, 2025, 80 min.) – Regional premiere MILITANTROPOS, Yelizaveta Smith, Alina Gorlova, Simon Mozgoviy (Ukraine, Austria, France, 2025, 111 min.) – Regional premiere OUR TIME WILL COME (UNSERE ZEIT WIRD KOMMEN), Ivette Löcker (Austria, 2025, 105 min.) – Regional premiere THE MEN'S LAND (KACEBIS MITSA), Mariam Bakacho Khatchvani (Georgia, Hungary, 2025, 15 min.) – Regional premiere SLET 1988, Marta Popivoda (Serbia, Germany, France, 2025, 22 min.) – Regional premiere 19-MONTH CONTRACT, Ketevan Vashagashvili (Georgia, Bulgaria, Germany, 2025, 77 min.) – B&H premiere TATA, Lina Vdovîi, Radu Ciorniciuc (Romania, Germany, The Netherlands, 2025, 82 min.) – B&H premiere
OUT OF COMPETITION FILMOHO FILM, Damjan Kozole (Slovenia, Croatia, 2025, 93 min.) – International premiere, out of competition
COMPETITION PROGRAM – SHORT FILM
BERNA'S EYES (SYTË E BERNËS), Ermal Gërdovci (Kosovo*, North Macedonia, 2025, 17 min.) – World premiereDESERT, SHE (IERIMOS), Ioanna Digenaki (Greece, 2025, 14 min.) – World premierePROCEDURE (PROSEDÜR), Rabia Özmen (Türkiye, 2025, 18 min.) – World premiereALIȘVERIȘ, Vasile Todinca (Romania, 2025, 15 min.) – Regional premiereERASERHEAD IN A KNITTED SHOPPING BAG, Lili Koss (Bulgaria, 2025, 19 min.) – Regional premiereHYSTERICAL FIT OF LAUGHTER (HISTERIČNI NAPAD SMEHA), Matija Gluščević, Dušan Zorić (Serbia, Croatia, 2025, 15 min.) – Regional premiereINDEX, Radu Muntean (Romania, 2025, 28 min.) – Regional premiereTHE SPECTACLE, Bálint Kenyeres (Hungary, France, 2025, 17 min.) – Regional premiereUPON SUNRISE (KAD SVANE), Stefan Ivančić (Serbia, Spain, Slovenia, Croatia, 2025, 15 min.) – Regional premiereWINTER IN MARCH (LUMI SAADAB MEID), Natalia Mirzoyan (Armenia, Estonia, France, Belgium, 2025, 16 min.) – Regional premiere
COMPETITION PROGRAM – STUDENT FILM
AFTER CLASS (DUPĂ ORE), Marius Papară (Romania, 2025, 18 min.) – World premiereFOUND & LOST, Reza Rasouli (Austria, 2025, 17 min.) – World premiereHOME, A SPACE BETWEEN US, Effi Rabsilber (Greece, 2025, 16 min.) – World premiereRAHLO, Jozo Schmuch (Croatia, 2025, 19 min.) – World premiereTARIK, Adem Tutić (Serbia, 2025, 27 min.) – World premiereCURFEW (KOMENDANTSKA HODYNA), Yelyzaveta Toptyhina (Ukraine, 2025, 23 min.) – International premiereBACKSTROKE (SIRTÜSTÜ), Asya Günen (Türkiye, 2025, 14 min.) – Regional premiereLIVING STONES (ÉLŐ KÖVEK), Jakob Ladányi Jancsó (Hungary, 2025, 20 min.) – Regional premiereMILK AND COOKIES (FURSECURI ȘI LAPTE), Andrei-Tache Codreanu (Romania, 2025, 21 min.) – Regional premierePENINSULA (POLUOTOK), David Gašo (Croatia, 2025, 19 min.) – Regional premiereWISH YOU WERE EAR, Mirjana Balogh (Hungary, 2025, 10 min.) – Regional premiere
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