The CineLink Drama programme of the Sarajevo Film Festival (16-23 August), a co-financing forum presenting series from the Southeast Europe region to distributers, broadcasters, and VoD and SVoD platforms, has revealed its core selection of six projects coming from nine countries in the region. These projects will first be developed at a workshop in Slano, Croatia, which will be aimed at script development and story editing in order to position the projects better on the market. The crowning event will be a pitching session that will take place on 20 August in Sarajevo, where the projects will compete for the following awards: €15,000 from the Croatian Audiovisual Centre and the opportunity to present the project at the TV Drama Vision event in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Hailing from Romania and the Czech Republic, Angelmaker is created, written and directed by Cristina Groşan, and is realised as a co-production by Tangaj Production and Xova Film. It tells the story of a midwife who uses home-made arsenic to help a woman get rid of her violent husband, but when more women come seeking help, it leads to a poisoning epidemic.

The Magic Wrap is a Turkish project created, written and directed by Ipek Ural Demirel and Ali Demirel, and produced by Karma Films. It tells the story of a Turkish-German couple embarking on a hopeful journey to Berlin, where they get embroiled in a mysterious crime caper after biting into a magic döner.

Written by Filip Jokanović and directed by Sara Stijović (who also serves as one of the producers, along with Jon Gojani), Pray for Us is a mystery series revolving around a priest moving to a war-torn village in Bosnia in order to save it from ten biblical plagues. In order to do so, he must find the body of the previous priest, revealing the village’s dark past in the process. It is being produced by Kot Productions in co-production with Tiny Sofa, with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Montenegro listed as the production countries.

Palaveevi Sisters is a co-production between Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Serbia by Miramar Film, OXO Production and Living Pictures. It is created by Alek Popov, and written by Popov and Delyana Maneva, with Ilian Djevelekov on board as the director. This combination of a contemporary epic and a comedy about the individual’s role in history tells the story of two girls lost in the world of war, looking to find meaning.

Created by Nemanja Vojinović and Vladimir Protić, and directed by Vojinović (known for last year’s Sarajevo documentary competition entry Bottlemen [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Nemanja Vojinović
fiche film]), Years of Lead tells the story of a young terrorist sentenced to death for a bomb attack at a Belgrade theatre. With the help of his lawyer, he tries to prove his innocence by exposing a network of terrorist cells in Yugoslavia. It is a Serbian production by Rt Dobre Nade and Axis Mundi.

Finally, the Bosnian project When the Ground Shakes comes with a mysterious tagline: “A man whose occupation is death tirelessly fights for life.” It is created by Almin Kaplan and veteran of Bosnian cinema Pjer Žalica (who also serves as the director), with Igor Borozan and Muamer Kodrić as the co-writers. The producers are Žalica and Aida Huseinović for the company BlackLAB.

The pitching session will also feature additional projects that will be selected directly for the market. More details will be revealed in the coming weeks.

Here is the full list of projects selected so far:

Angelmaker (Romania/Czech Republic)
Creator/writer/director: Cristina Groşan
Producer: Anda Ionescu
Co-producer: Marek Novák
Production company: Tangaj Production
Co-production company: Xova Film

The Magic Wrap (Turkey)
Creators/writers/directors: Ipek Ural Demirel, Ali Demirel
Producers: Diloy Gulun, Beste Yamalioglu
Production company: Karma Films

Pray for Us (Bosnia and Herzegovina/Kosovo/Montenegro)
Creator/writer: Filip Jokanović
Director: Sara Stijović
Producers: Jon Gojani, Sara Stijović
Production company: Kot Productions
Co-production company: Tiny Sofa

Palaveevi Sisters (Bulgaria/North Macedonia/Serbia)
Creator: Alek Popov
Writers: Alek Popov, Delyana Maneva
Director: Ilian Djevelekov
Producers: Mila Voinikova, Pece Taleski, Stefan Orlandić
Production company: Miramar Film
Co-production companies: OXO Production, Living Pictures

Years of Lead (Serbia)
Creators/writers: Nemanja Vojinović, Vladimir Protić
Director: Nemanja Vojinović
Producers: Nemanja Vojinović, Nada Kostić
Production company: Rt Dobre Nade
Co-production company: Axis Mundi

When the Ground Shakes (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Creators/writers: Almin Kaplan, Pjer Žalica
Co-writers: Igor Borozan, Muamer Kodrić
Director: Pjer Žalica
Producers: Aida Huseinović, Pjer Žalica
Production company: BlackLAB