The 22nd edition of the Docu Talents from the East – a presentation of the most remarkable new documentary projects from Central and Eastern Europe – will take place on August 16 during the Cinelink Industry Days at Sarajevo FF.
The presentations by directors and producers of seven selected documentary projects will be followed by one-to-one meetings with sales agents, festival representatives and other decision-makers accredited at Sarajevo FF.
The call for submissions to the 22nd Docu Talents from the East is open until May 31. The eligible projects include mid-length or feature-length documentary projects at the post-production stage with expected premiere between September 2026 and August 2027.
The eligible countries are Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Russia (only for projects not supported by the Russian state institutions), Slovakia, Slovenia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
“For the last 22 years, Docu Talents has served as a launch pad for many documentaries by both renowned and emerging directors from the region. And each year, we discover more and more exceptional documentary projects and daring authors coming from Eastern Europe. We really look forward to this year’s crop,” says Marek Hovorka, director of Ji.hlava IDFF which has curated the programme since 2005.
“The Docu Talents has proven to be an event that effectively interconnects documentary film professionals with festival selectors and producers. Each year we see very tangible results both for the careers of the selected filmmakers and for their films,” adds Jarmila Outratová, head of Ji.hlava industry.
Directors who have benefited from selection for Docu Talents include Laila Pakalniņa, Vladimir Mansky, Bartek Konopka, Piotr Stasik, Peter Kerekes, Dmitrii Kalashnikov and Helena Třeštíková, whose works had later world and international premieres at major film festivals including in Cannes, Berlin, Locarno, Rotterdam, and Sundance.
The programme is held as part of the Visegrad Accelerator supported by the International Visegrad Fund. Click here for applications and more information.
