As the regional series sidebar keeps getting more of the spotlight in the Sarajevo Film Festival’s screening programme, the same could also be said for CineLink Drama in the wider framework of CineLink Industry Days. This year’s edition was planned to feature two presentations, two showcases, a pitching session and a panel over the course of two days, 15 and 16 August.

The string of events opened with a showcase by Telekom Srbija, the Serbian telecommunications operator, which was one of the first regional companies of its kind to seize the opportunity to get into the TV-series production business. With CineLink Industry Days training and skills co-ordinator Darija Šuković acting as the moderator, the company presented itself and the upcoming projects in its portfolio, following short company presentations held by Aleksandra Matinović, the director of the Multimedia division of Telekom Srbija. Then the producers and the creators took the floor to present their projects.

Producer Aleksandar Protić presented The Visit (created by Veljko Mićunović), a 16-episode series following four true-crime cases and the emotional impact the events had on those involved. Boban Jevitć, of Firefly Productions, presented the second season of the hugely popular folk-horror series Black Wedding. Writer and creator Gábor Krigler introduced the Sarajevo-set contemporary crime series Frust, which he co-created with Srđan Vuletić. The series follows the eponymous vigilante, described as “the love child between Che Guevara and The Joker”, as he is caught in a Jekyll/Hyde dilemma between his alter ego and his true self. Creator and producer Ivan Knežević presented his new project Absolute 100, which is the TV-series remake and expansion of the 2001 film by Srdan Golubović. Finally, producer Nedeljko Bajić, of Contrast Studios, presented a politically questionable project, the history-themed series Heroes of Halyard, set during World War II and told from a revisionist perspective.

The next event was the presentation of the Council of Europe Pilot Programme for Series Co-Production by programme manager Alex Traila. Based on similar principles to Eurimages, which is aimed at feature-length films, the new project has the goal of nurturing independent storytelling, creating more flexible financing, promoting co-production principles, keeping creative control in the hands of the creators, and stimulating the circulation of talent between territories. The project will be split into two schemes, one of which is Support for Series Co-Productions. It is supposed to launch three calls per year, offering €250,000 or €500,000 for the selected projects, covering up to 10% of their budgets. All forms and genres are welcome, but the support can be used only for one season, up to ten episodes long. The second, the Developmental Award, is envisioned for market events.

The finale of the first day was the pitching session moderated by the head of CineLink, Amra Bakšić Čamo, in which eight projects from North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Serbia, Ukraine, Croatia, Romania and Moldova were presented. The projects were in the running for three awards, judged by two juries. The jury consisting of Danna Stern (of In Transit Productions), Cia Edström (of TV Drama Vision at the Göteborg Film Festival) and director Srđan Vuletić was to give out two awards: the Croatian Audiovisual Centre Drama Award of €15,000 and the TV Drama Vision Pitch Award, which gives its winner the opportunity to pitch the project at the aforementioned event in Gothenburg. The second jury, consisting of Nataša Bučar (of the Slovenian Film Centre), Anamaria Antoci (of Tangaj Production) and Tamara Tatiashvili (of Focal Medici), was to give out the Female Voices CineLink Award of €10,000. See the full list of projects below.

Since the second day of the programme was declared to be a national day of mourning in Bosnia and Herzegovina, following a case of femicide and mass murder that happened in the town of Gradačac in the north-east of the country, the festival activities were halted. This also included the showcase of the Turkish Radio-Television (TRT) activities that were due to be presented by Abdullah Çelik, the head of Strategy at the company, and the BH Telecom showcase, in which the domestic telecommunications operator would have shown its slate of TV series projects.

However, a panel called “What Happens Next? The Future of Drama Series Unveiled” did take place, but only for industry guests, in the absence of the press. Under the moderation of Alex Traila, speakers Mark Tuohy (VP of Scripted Drama at Max, formerly HBO Max), Emmanuel Eckert (acquisition deputy director at Mediawan Rights), Danna Stern and Ana Rhode (content editor at Beta Film Group) discussed the possible scenarios for the near and more distant future of the TV series business.

Here is the list of pitched projects:

Adventures of a Turbo-Folk Princess – Andrey Volkashin, Peter Vulchev (North Macedonia/Bulgaria)
Producers: Pece Taleski, Ilija Tiricovski
Production company: OXO Production

The Amazons of Istanbul – Nisan Dağ, Müge Özen (Turkey)
Producer: Müge Özen
Production company: Solis Film

Connections – Tea Korolija, Maja Todorović, Srđan Šaper (Serbia)
Producers: Marija Vičić, Filip Đorić, Mirjana Jovašević
Production company: Adrenalin
Co-production company: Two Rivers

The Wrong Man – Olesia Lukianenko (Ukraine)
Producers: Olesia Lukianenko, Kateryna Vyshnevska
Production company: FILM.UA Group

Lost Trace – Aleksandar Arsovski (Croatia)
Producers: Tamara Babun, Matija Drniković
Production company: Wolfgang & Dolly

Miracles – Igor Cobileanski, Daniel Mitulescu (Romania/Moldova)
Producer: Daniel Mitulescu
Production company: Metropolis Film

Guest projects:

Moon Coast – Matija Dragojević, Maja Pek-Brünjes (Croatia/Serbia)
Producers: Danijel Pek, Srđan Dragojević
Production company: Antitalent
Co-production company: Delirium Films

School Counselor – Milutin Milošević (Serbia)
Producer: Kosta Gušica
Production company: Tuna Fish Studio