Business Doc Europe

Slow and meditative, at times accompanied by a soundtrack both sinister and rasping, the the Ukrainian feature doc Divia presents an apocalyptic vision of nature destroyed by war. “It’s hard to put some emotions into words, because most of them are inside this project – it’s really personal, and it’s hard to realise how many natural resources have been destroyed, mined, or occupied by Russian military forces,” says director Dmytro Hreshko.

Nasmi, the youngest of three brothers, was born in Germany to Roma parents who had fled the war in Kosovo. Nevertheless he was ‘returned’ to a horrific IDP camp in Kosovo in 2009 - together with his mother and middle brother Sedat - after the German authorities tightened its asylum laws. Roma director Katalin Bársony chronicled Nasmi’s story over the next 15 years. “The film is not just about borders, identity papers, or policy failures, though all of those are part of the story,” she says. “At its core, this is a film about love, separation, and the enduring desire for home.”

“Damir Markovina shares his story without reservations,” Croatian producer Tamara Babun Zovko (Wolfgang & Dolly LLC) underlines to BDE of the CineLink Rough Cut presentation We Shall Live Together. In the film, thirty years after the war in the Balkans, two brothers urge their father - former Bosnian Socialist MP Roko Markovina - to return to the place they were exiled from, their divided hometown of Mostar, a city made up of hurt, trauma, and precious memories…

Croatian producer Oliver Sertić (Restarted) fills in BDE on Anton Mezulić’s debut feature Cordon, which follows footballer Nikola, the product of a mixed marriage and now approaching manhood, but who is all the while dealing with a chaotic past and an uncertain future. It is a “coming-of-age story of a young man from a small, godforsaken Croatian town that remains ethnically divided thirty years after the war,” says Sertić.

Dina Karaman and Evgeny Rodin have set their new hybrid documentary, selected as a Work-in-Progress in Sarajevo, in a psychiatric hospital within an unspecified location. “The project's hybrid and docufiction nature, coupled with the fact that it was shot in a difficult-to-access location and later narrated as not belonging to any specific geography, could appeal to audiences by moving it away from the documentary and towards fiction, or even a musical,” say the filmmakers.

In Jakob Krese’s new feature doc, three generations of a [former] Yugoslav family reflect on over half a century of upheaval, hope, destruction, and new beginnings. “The grandmother fought with the partisans against fascism while the mother - a remarkable poet, writer, journalist, and humanitarian aid worker - decided to support her friends during the siege of Sarajevo,” Slovenian producer Ivana Naceva tells BDE. “Now Jakob is passing this legacy on to his young daughter.”

A Song Without Home by Georgian director Rati Tsiteladze, Land of Fire by Czech director Nikola Klinger and Armenian-Swiss co-production Flying Cows by directors Vahagn Khachatryan and Aren Malakyan were announced as Docu Talent Award winners August 18 in Sarajevo. Additionally, Ji.hlava IDFF unveiled its Emerging Producers for 2026, with Sub-Saharan Africa named as Guest Region.

Semaine de la Critique jury members Stéphane Gobbo (Switzerland) Mala Reinhardt (Germany) and Simonetta Sommaruga (Switzerland) handed out this year’s awards August 16 to Dennis Harvey and Lars Lovén for Celtic Utopia (Sweden/Ireland) and to Gaetano Crivaro, Silvia Perra, Ferruccio Goia and Alberto Diana for In the Penal Colony. The 78th Locarno FF ran August 6 to 16.

Docs are squarely in the frame at the 31st Sarajevo Film Festival and its accompanying CineLink Industry Days. Documentary Competition includes 20 feature-length and short films, while the professional programme includes the Docu Rough Cut Boutique and Docu Talents from the East pitch events, the latter organised by Ji.hlava IDFF. Additionally, CineLink Works-in-Progress includes two doc projects. Plus talks and panels. Sarajevo Film Festival kicks off 15 August, running to August 22.

Representatives of Doc Alliance, which unites seven of Europe’s major docfests, will partake in 3 industry panels at this year’s Sarajevo Film Festival, presenting results from the network’s ongoing research project. For several years, the network has been collecting information about all member festivals, “focusing on the key areas of new technologies, inclusive programming, sustainability, emerging talents and educational practices.’ The panels will be held August 18.

Paris-based distributor Astrea has acquired international rights to the VR title A Long Goodbye, directed by Kate Voet & Victor Maes. The animated interactive film tells the story of Ida, a 72-year-old pianist living with dementia, and will celebrate its world premiere in Venice Immersive competition. “A Long Goodbye is a poetic experience about the impact of dementia, but above all it is about love,” write the filmmakers.

Members of the Czech Film and Television Academy (CFTA) have selected the documentary feature I’m Not Everything I Want to Be by Klára Tasovská as the Czech Republic's candidate for the Academy Award in the International Feature Film category. “The formally daring documentary about identity, freedom and inner defiance follows the life of photographer Libuše Jarcovjáková – a distinctive artist who regardless of the times and her surroundings decided to be true to herself,” writes the Czech Film Center.