During the 30th Sarajevo Film Festival (Aug. 16 to 23), CineLink, the festival’s industry program, will present its work-in-progress showcase. This includes eight feature-length fiction and one documentary film in the production or post-production stages from Southeast Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.
Among those competing are Alisa Kovalenko, who was in competition in Sarajevo last year for “We Will Not Fade Away,” which also screened at the Berlinale; Adrian Sitaru, named best director at Locarno with “Best Intentions“; Tarik Aktas, who took best emerging director at Locarno with “Dead Horse Nebula”; Ralitza Petrova, winner of the Golden Leopard for best film at Locarno with “Godless“; Maya Vitkova, who competed at Sundance with “Viktoria“; and Ana Urushadze, who took best first feature at Locarno for “Scary Mother.”
The projects will be presented to funders, sales agents, distributors, broadcasters and festival programmers with the aim of driving forward their completion and boosting their distribution chances.
Here’s the lineup:
“Frontline” (Poland, Ukraine, Denmark)
Documentary
Dir: Alisa Kovalenko
Prod: Kasia Kuczynska
In the heart of the Ukrainian frontline, a mother, soldier, and filmmaker captures the fragile tranquillity shattered by war, revealing a deeply personal and unseen side of conflict through her dual lens.
“Frontline”
Courtesy of Alisa Kovalenko
“Harakiri” (Romania)
Fiction
Dir: Adrian Sitaru, Vlad Popa
Prod: Iriana Adnana
“Harakiri” follows two seemingly unrelated stories: one navigating the superficial and critical approach of a TV show about suicide, the other delving into love and mental health at home.
“Hear the Yellow” (Turkey)
Fiction
Director: Banu Sıvacı
Prods: Yusuf Aslanyürek, Orkun Huylu
Returning to her Anatolian village, Suna searches for her missing cat, uncovering family secrets and reconnecting with her roots along the way.
“Honey Bunny” (Croatia, Serbia)
Fiction
Director: Igor Jelinović
Producer: Rea Rajčić
Tonina’s secret move to secure a coveted family property in Hvar fractures her relationship with her sister Tajana. This leads to a visit filled with simmering resentments, where unspoken tensions come to a head.
“Kriegsausgabe” (Turkey)
Fiction
Director: Tarık Aktaş
Prods: Güneş Şekeroğlu, Tarık Aktaş
“Kriegsausgabe” is a dystopian epic journey set in Mesopotamia where Kramnuk, an infamous fighter, tries to escape the violence and misery he’s responsible for.
“Lust” (Bulgaria, Denmark, Sweden)
Fiction
Dir: Ralitza Petrova
Prods: Poli Angelova, Nikolay Todorov, Ralitza Petrova, Eva Jakobsen, Anna Byvald
When a daughter becomes the unwitting heir to her estranged father, all she wants is to refuse the inheritance, and get back to her life. But a near-death experience changes everything.
“My Turn!” (Hungary)
Fiction
Dir: Ge Zhang
Prods: Katalin Csényi, Sissy Cui
The film explores the challenges of disconnection through the journey of a brother and sister as they strive to break free from the confines of tradition, maturity, and their own bodies.
“One Month” (Bulgaria)
Fiction
Dir: Maya Vitkova-Kosev
Prod: Maya Vitkova-Kosev
Sarah, an artist still living with her parents, who has not had a relationship since her fiancé left her 10 years ago, has one month to find a father for her future child in order to keep her life intact.
“Supporting Role” (Georgia, Estonia, Turkey)
Fiction
Dir: Ana Urushadze
Prods: Davit Tsintsadze, Ivo Felt, Sophio Bendiashvili, Bacho Meburishvili, Zeynep Atakan, Andrey Epifanov, Eleonora Granata, Dato Bakhtadze
A retired Georgian film star, used to playing heroic leads, embarks on a cathartic odyssey after being offered a supporting role as an unpleasant elderly man.