Fifty Films Compete for Awards at 31st Sarajevo Film Festival

Fifty films will compete for the Heart of Sarajevo awards at the 31st Sarajevo Film Festival, and one film will be shown out of competition. The festival’s four competition sections – for feature, documentary, short and student film – will feature 15 world, six international, 28 regional and two national premieres.

Sarajevo’s programming team, led by creative director Izeta Građević, has seen 1,036 films, including 195 fiction feature films and 291 documentaries.

Građević said the programs bring together filmmakers who “explore how we live and how we survive within complex and unstable social frameworks.”

She added: “This selection opens up space to remember what we all have in common: the need for meaning, for closeness, for understanding – ourselves and others.”

COMPETITION PROGRAM – FEATURE FILM

OTTER, Srđan Vuletić (Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy, Croatia, Kosovo, 88 min.) – World premiere.

A reserved teenager, Hana, has been invited by her crush, Balsa, to go to a lake with him to film a solar eclipse. On the morning of their planned trip, however Hana’s father, a top-notch pilot, dies. In his will, Hana’s father requests that he be buried in a space suit. Frustrated by her mother’s inability to stand up to the rest of the family, who want to give her father a traditional funeral, Hana runs away from home and goes to the lake, where she comes to realize that Balsa is an aggressive predator. Hana must suppress her considerate and obedient nature or her destiny will be as dark as the solar eclipse.

STARS OF LITTLE IMPORTANCE, Renátó Olasz (Hungary, 83 min.) – World premiere

A brother and sister return home from the capital for Christmas to reunite with childhood friends and first loves. They hold a party. They drink heavily. Nothing is the same as before. But everything is good, right? Through the siblings’ eyes, we observe an abandoned city, where time has frozen, and we experience some Hungarian rural destinies. The siblings must face some questions: Where are they going, now that they are 30 years old? Is this how they imagined their lives would be when they were teenagers?

YUGO FLORIDA, Vladimir Tagić (Serbia, Bulgaria, France, Croatia, Montenegro, 112 min.) – World premiere

Zoran’s awkward, almost pointless life—which features a pothead roommate, an unavailable ex-girlfriend, and a job on reality TV—is turned upside down when his estranged and intolerable father is diagnosed with a terminal illness and Zoran commits himself to helping him through his final weeks.

DJ AHMET, Georgi M. Unkovski (North Macedonia, Czech Republic, Serbia, Croatia, 99 min.) – Regional premiere

Ahmet, a 15-year-old boy from a remote Yuruk village in North Macedonia, finds refuge in music while navigating his father’s expectations, a conservative community, and his first experience in love—with a girl who is already promised to someone else.

FANTASY, Kukla (Slovenia, North Macedonia, 98 min.) – Regional premiere

Tomboys Mihrije, Sina and Jasna are best friends in their early twenties. They live in Slovenia, and refuse to conform to the conservative system they live in. Their world is turned upside down when they meet Fantasy, a transgender woman. Together, they embark on a journey that explores the complexities of gender, desire and self-discovery.

GOD WILL NOT HELP, Hana Jušić (Croatia, Italy, Romania, Greece, France, Slovenia, 135 min.) – Regional premiere

Teresa, a Chilean woman, comes to a firmly structured and isolated mountain community of Croatian shepherds in the early 20th century, claiming to be the widow of their émigré brother. Her arrival has a significant impact on the dynamics among the members of the community, and brings with it unrest as well as inspiration for other women.

SORELLA DI CLAUSURA, Ivana Mladenović (Romania, Serbia, Italy, Spain, 103 min.) – Regional premiere

If you wish for something fervently enough, will the whole universe work in your favor? Stela fell in love with a Balkan musician—after seeing him on television. Determined to meet him, she accepts help from Vera, a glamorous starlet rumored to be the musician’s mistress. Their worlds collide when Vera promises to rescue Stela from her poverty-stricken life by taking her to Bucharest, where she runs a sex-products business.

WHITE SNAIL, Elsa Kremser, Levin Peter (Austria, Germany, 115 min.) – Regional premiere

Dreaming of a career in China, a Belarusian model finds herself drawn to a mysterious loner who works the night shift at a morgue. Their encounter disturbs her senses of body, beauty, and mortality. The fragile love story of two outsiders who turn each other’s worlds upside down and discover that they are not alone.

WIND, TALK TO ME, Stefan Đorđević (Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, 100 min.) – Regional premiere

Stefan reunites with his family to celebrate his grandmother’s birthday for the first time since his mother recently passed away. This homecoming, driven by Stefan’s urge to complete a film about his mother as well as an attempt to make amends by rescuing a stray dog, will ignite an introspective journey. Inspired by director Stefan Đorđević ’s real-life experiences, and starring his real-life family members in a mission to complete a lake house and a film, “Wind, Talk to Me” is an intimate cinematic exploration of the timeless mother-son relationship.

COMPETITION PROGRAM – DOCUMENTARY FILM
BOSNIAN KNIGHT, Tarik Hodžić (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, 79 min.) – World premiere
I SAW A ‘SUNO,’ Katalin Barsony (Hungary, Belgium, 92 min.) – World premiere
KITE, Thanos Psichogios (Greece, 15 min.) – World premiere
STEEL HOTEL SONG, Bojan Stojčić (Bosnia and Herzegovina, 19 min.) – World premiere
LETTERS, Aysel Küçüksu (Bulgaria, 11 min.) – International premiere
MY DAD’S LESSONS, Dalija Dozet (Croatia, 62 min.) – International premiere
RED SLIDE, Nebojša Slijepčević (Croatia, 27 min.) – International premiere
THIRD WORLD, Arsen Oremović (Croatia, 101 min.) – International premiere
CUBA & ALASKA, Yegor Troyanovsky (Ukraine, France, Belgium, 93 min.) – Regional premiere
DIVIA, Dmytro Hreshko (Ukraine, Poland, The Netherlands, U.S., 79 min.) – Regional premiere
DREAMERS: PEOPLE OF THE LIGHT, Imam Hasanov (Azerbaijan, 86 min.) – Regional premiere
EVERY TIME YOU LEAVE, YOU ARE BORN AGAIN, Mladen Bundalo (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belgium, 24 min.) – Regional premiere
I BELIEVE THE PORTRAIT SAVED ME, Alban Muja (Kosovo, The Netherlands, 10 min.) – Regional premiere
IN HELL WITH IVO, Kristina Nikolova (Bulgaria, U.S., 80 min.) – Regional premiere
MILITANTROPOS, Yelizaveta Smith, Alina Gorlova, Simon Mozgoviy (Ukraine, Austria, France, 111 min.) – Regional premiere
OUR TIME WILL COME, Ivette Löcker (Austria, 105 min.) – Regional premiere
THE MEN’S LAND, Mariam Bakacho Khatchvani (Georgia, Hungary, 15 min.) – Regional premiere
SLET 1988, Marta Popivoda (Serbia, Germany, France, 22 min.) – Regional premiere
9-MONTH CONTRACT, Ketevan Vashagashvili (Georgia, Bulgaria, Germany, 77 min.) – B&H premiere
TATA, Lina Vdovîi, Radu Ciorniciuc (Romania, Germany, The Netherlands, 82 min.) – B&H premiere
OHO FILM, Damjan Kozole (Slovenia, Croatia, 93 min.) – International premiere, out of competition

COMPETITION PROGRAM – SHORT FILM
BERNA’S EYES, Ermal Gërdovci (Kosovo, North Macedonia, 17 min.) – World premiere
DESERT, SHE, Ioanna Digenaki (Greece, 14 min.) – World premiere
PROCEDURE, Rabia Özmen (Türkiye, 18 min.) – World premiere
ALIȘVERIȘ, Vasile Todinca (Romania, 15 min.) – Regional premiere
ERASERHEAD IN A KNITTED SHOPPING BAG, Lili Koss (Bulgaria, 19 min.) – Regional premiere
HYSTERICAL FIT OF LAUGHTER, Matija Gluščević, Dušan Zorić (Serbia, Croatia, 15 min.) – Regional premiere
INDEX, Radu Muntean (Romania, 28 min.) – Regional premiere
THE SPECTACLE, Bálint Kenyeres (Hungary, France, 17 min.) – Regional premiere
UPON SUNRISE, Stefan Ivančić (Serbia, Spain, Slovenia, Croatia, 15 min.) – Regional premiere
WINTER IN MARCH, Natalia Mirzoyan (Armenia, Estonia, France, Belgium, 16 min.) – Regional premiere

COMPETITION PROGRAM – STUDENT FILM
AFTER CLASS, Marius Papară (Romania, 18 min.) – World premiere
FOUND & LOST, Reza Rasouli (Austria, 17 min.) – World premiere
HOME, A SPACE BETWEEN US, Effi Rabsilber (Greece, 16 min.) – World premiere
RAHLO, Jozo Schmuch (Croatia, 19 min.) – World premiere
TARIK, Adem Tutić (Serbia, 27 min.) – World premiere
CURFEW, Yelyzaveta Toptyhina (Ukraine, 23 min.) – International premiere
BACKSTROKE, Asya Günen (Türkiye, 14 min.) – Regional premiere
LIVING STONES, Jakob Ladányi Jancsó (Hungary, 20 min.) – Regional premiere
MILK AND COOKIES, Andrei-Tache Codreanu (Romania, 21 min.) – Regional premiere
PENINSULA, David Gašo (Croatia, 19 min.) – Regional premiere
WISH YOU WERE EAR, Mirjana Balogh (Hungary, 10 min.) – Regional premiere

The 31st Sarajevo Film Festival will take place from Aug. 15 to 22.