04/08/2025 - The line-up features eight fiction and three documentary projects, including the new efforts by Urša Menart, Miroslav Terzić and Antonio Nuić

Director Urša Menart, who is taking part with Everything That’s Wrong with You (© Katja Goljat)

The Sarajevo Film Festival’s CineLink Industry Days has announced the selection for this year’s Work in Progress section, showcasing the most compelling new features emerging from Southeast Europe and the MENA region. The selection includes a total of 11 projects – eight fictions and three documentaries that will be presented to high-profile international industry professionals (funders, sales agents, distributors, broadcasters and festival programmers) with the aim of assisting their completion and enhancing their distribution prospects.

“The selection encompasses a broad stylistic and genre spectrum, and narratives that are both deeply personal and socially resonant,” says CineLink’s press release. “Many of the selected works explore the complexities of human nature and the fragility of social consensus, as well as the tensions between collective expectations and personal anxieties. What unites these films is a shared sensitivity to the nuances of human relationships, between generations, individuals and communities. At their core lies a strong drive to understand the other, affirm dignity, and explore the resilience of individuals and communities in the face of violence and inequality.”

The 11 projects will be vying for five prizes: the HBO Award (comprising €30,000 in cash and a direct licence to air the work across 15 HBO territories in Central and Southeast Europe), the Avanpost Media Award (€30,000 in kind), the TRT Award (€10,000), the Post Republic Award (€30,000 in kind), plus the CineLink Impact Award, a €20,000 impact‑campaign grant presented by Think‑Film Impact Production, for which the films from the Docu Rough Cut Boutique line-up are also eligible.

Here is the full CineLink Work in Progress selection:

Monument - Bojan Bodružić (Bosnia and Herzegovina/Canada) – fiction
Producers: Bojan Bodružić, Igor Drljača, Adis Đapo, Amra Bakšić Čamo
Production companies: SCCA/pro.ba, Japanese Polka Dancing Films

Where to? - Assaf Machnes (Israel/Germany) – fiction
Producers: Tomer Mecklberg, Haim Mecklberg, Oren Rogovin, Mohamad Babi
Production company: 2 Team Productions
Co-production companies: Lev Cinema, Rogovin Brothers, Iconoclast Germany

Alkebulan - Yassine Marco Marroccu (Morocco/Hungary/Qatar) - fiction/documentary
Producer: Andrea Taschler
Production company: Mirage Film
Co-production company: Eclipse Films

Yesterday the Eye Didn’t Sleep - Rakan Mayasi (Belgium/Palestine/Lebanon) – fiction
Producers: Jennifer Ritter, Rakan Mayasi
Production company: Atata

Everything That’s Wrong with You - Urša Menart (Slovenia/Germany/Serbia) – fiction
Producers: Katja Lenarčič, Danijel Hočevar
Production company: Vertigo Ljubljana
Co-production companies: Chromosom Film, Living Pictures

17 - Kosara Mitić (North Macedonia/Serbia/Slovenia) – fiction
Producer: Tomi Salkovski
Production company: Black Cat Production
Co-production companies: Art&Popcorn, December

The Forbidden Aunt - Bojana Novaković (Serbia) – documentary
Producers: Bojana Novaković, Sonja Božić, Milan Stojanović
Production company: Sense Production

Looping - Antonio Nuić (Croatia/Turkey) – fiction
Producers: Lana Matić, Boris T Matić
Production company: Propeler Film
Co-production company: Moses Film

Silence Is the Enemy of the Sea - Evgeny Rodin, Dina Karaman (France/Azerbaijan/Austria) – experimental/documentary
Producers: Vladimir Nadein, Anton Kurilchik, Mina Seyid-Mammadova, Evgeny Rodin
Production company: Dénapá
Co-production companies: Jol Filmproduktion, Mandarin Production

Blue Bird - Ahmet Sönmez (Turkey) – fiction
Producer: Ahmet Sönmez
Production company: MovieTime Production

Who Are We - Miroslav Terzić (Serbia/Italy/Luxembourg/Bulgaria/Croatia) – fiction
Producer: Snežana van Houwelingen
Production company: This and That Productions
Co-production companies: Nightswim, Invictus, PTD, Kinorama