09/05/2025 - Nine fiction features include new films by Andrei Tănase and Hilal Baydarov, among authors of the seven series are Asimina Proedrou and Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović

Director Hilal Baydarov, whose project Stone over Stone has been selected for the CineLink Co-Production Market

Sarajevo Film Festival's CineLink Industry Days has revealed the first projects selected for two of its flagship programmes, the Co-Production Market and Drama.

Eight of the most promising feature film projects in development will take part in the CineLink Workshop (June 16–20), with one additional project set to participate in the CineLink Co-Production Market (August 16–21).

In the Co-Production Market strand, there is a mix of established filmmakers and newcomers, most of whom already have connections with Sarajevo, such as Romanian director Andrei Tănase and producer Anamaria Antoci who return with Agatha Candy after the Rotterdam and Sarajevo competition title Day of the Tiger [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Andrei Tănase
film profile]. Croatia’s David Kapac is bringing Pogana, his second feature co-written with Andrija Mardešić, after Karlovy Vary title The Uncle [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Andrija Mardešić and David …
film profile]. Turkey is represented by the historical drama That Country by Yusuf Elbaşı, produced by Burak Çevik (Belonging [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Burak Çevik
film profile]), and the coming-of-age film Rain Country by Sarajevo Talents alumna Zeynep Köprülü.

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Acclaimed Azerbaijani filmmaker Hilal Baydarov (Sermon to the Fish, In Between Dying [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) returns with his new drama, Stone over Stone, after winning Heart of Sarajevo for Best Documentary with When the Persimmons Grew [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]. Romania’s Miruna Minculescu joins with Bright Gray, produced by Oana Iancu and first presented through CineLink’s Pack & Pitch programme. From Hungary, Dorka Vermes (Arni [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) returns with Places Half Empty, and Kalman Nagy presents The Shame of the Boberly Family, produced by Johannes Schubert. Austria’s Simon Maria Kubiena presents The Flowering of the Chimera, his feature debut after the success of his short Catching Birds.

The awards these projects and those that will be announced at a later date are vying for include the Eurimages Co-Production Development Award (€20,000), the Film Centre Montenegro CineLink Award (€10,000), the Film Centre Serbia CineLink Award (€10,000), the ARTEKino International Prize (€6,000) and the CineLink Female Voices Award (€20,000).

The CineLink Drama projects, all of them supported in their development stage, will be presented at a highly anticipated pitching session on August 19. Five of them will first go through an on-site workshop in Slano, Croatia, with a focus on script development and story editing with an aim of better positioning in the market.

The selection features literary adaptations such as the political crime drama Red Water, created by Ljubica Luković, directed by Antonela Alamat Kusijanović (Murina [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović
interview: Gracija Filipovic
film profile]) and produced by Danijel Pek (Murina, The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent), and based on the novel by Jurica Pavičić, who is also writing the screenplay. Gorilla, a period crime drama by Hungary’s Gábor Krigler, adapts the Yugoslavian bestseller by Dušan Savković.

Serbia’s Vladimir Tagić, one of the creators of popular and acclaimed The Sabre (developed through CineLink Drama), presents the intimate comedy Wonderful. From Montenegro comes Homeboyz, a coming-of-age comedy by creator Stefan Bošković and producer Ivan Đurović.

Two Greek projects include Beneath the Surface by Asimina Proedrou (Behind the Haystacks [+see also:
film review
film profile]), a political thriller developed through the Series Mania Institute programme, and P.I.G.S., a socially engaged dramedy created by Theo Papadoulakis and produced by Ioana Davi. Finally, Bulgaria is represented by South Stream, a crime drama by Marko Popović and Iva Mitrović, produced by Kraysto Lambev.

CineLink Drama offers three prestigious awards: Council of Europe Series Co-Production Development Award (€50,000), the Croatian Audiovisual Centre Drama Award (€15,000) and the TV Drama Vision Pitch Award, taking the project is to the TV Drama Vision event in Göteborg.

The projects selected so far:

Co-Production Market

Agatha Candy - Andrei Tănase (Romania)
Production: Tangaj Production

Bright Grey - Miruna Minculescu (Romania/Bulgaria)
Production: The East Company Productions, Contrast Films

Places Half Empty - Dorka Vermes (Hungary)
Production: Non Lieu Kft. 

Pogana - David Kapac (Croatia/Slovenia)
Production: Eclectica, Vertigo

Rain Country - Zeynep Köprülü (Turkey)
Production: Periferi Film  

Stone over Stone - Hilal Baydarov (Austria/Azerbaijan)
Production: Subobscura Films, Ucqar Film 

The Shame of the Borbély Family - Kálmán Nagy (Austria/Hungary)
Production: Schubert, Lupa Pictures

That Country - Yusuf Elbaşı (Turkey)
Production: Fol Films 

The Flowering of a Chimera - Simon Maria Kubiena (Austria/Germany)
Production: Chimera Film 

CineLink Drama

Beneath the Surface (Greece)
Creator-writer: Asimina Proedrou 
Director: Asimina Proedrou 
Production: Tanweer Productions

Gorilla (Serbia)
Creator: Gabor Krigler 
Writers: Eszter Angyalosy, Cyril Tysz
Director: Christian Gudegast
Production: Firefly Productions 

Homeboyz (Montenegro)
Creator-writer: Stefan Bošković
Production: Artikulacija

P.I.G.S. (Greece)
Creator-director: Theo Papadoulakis
Writers: Gabor Krigler, Giulio Rizzo
Production: Indigo View Productions 

Red Water (Croatia)
Creator: Ljubica Luković 
Writers: Ljubica Luković, Jurica Pavičić
Director: Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović
Production: Antitalent

South Stream (Bulgaria/Serbia/Greece)
Creator: Marko Popović 
Writers: Marko Popović, Iva Mitrović
Production: Concept Studio, Sense Production, Foss Productions

Wonderful (Serbia)
Creators-writers: Katarina Mitrović, Isidora Veselinović, Vladimir Tagić
Directors: Vladimir Tagić, Isidora Veselinović
Production: Sense Production