The Sarajevo Film Festival’s CineLink Industry Days has announced the first eight projects at the development stage slated to participate in both the CineLink Workshop (17-21 June) and CineLink Industry Days (18-23 August). These projects have been labelled as the most promising ones in the region of Southeast Europe. More titles set to be presented at the Sarajevo-based industry event will be announced in the coming weeks.

This year’s edition will put an emphasis on female auteurs and producers, with stories of motherhood, abortion, identity, equality and empowerment led by strong female characters. The selection offers a blend of emerging voices, who are coming along with their first feature-length projects, and more established ones, whose debuts made a splash on the festival circuit. These projects will be competing for five awards: the Eurimages Co-Production Development Award (worth €20,000), the Film Centre of Montenegro CineLink Award (€10,000), the Film Centre of Serbia CineLink Award (€10,000), the ARTEKino International Prize (€6,000) and the CineLink Female Voices Award (€10,000). The projects in the Drama section (see the news) are also eligible for the latter prize.

Coming from Serbia and with Milica Tomović, of Celts [+] fame, on board as the director, Big Woman tells the story of two best friends embarking on a journey to the coast of Montenegro. Tomović wrote the script together with Sara Đurović and Tanja Šljivar, while Non-Aligned Films and Big Time Production are serving as the production companies, and France’s Bocalupo Films as the co-production company.

Darko Sinko’s Confirmation tells the story of three teenage friends in a village whose friendship is put to the test after a sudden drug discovery. Sinko co-wrote the script with Andreea Valean, and the film is a Slovenian-Austrian co-production through December and Eutopia Film. Sinko’s previous effort Inventory [+] premiered at San Sebastián in 2021.

Coming as a co-production involving Turkey, Germany and France, through the companies Ignore Studio, Red Balloon and Ciné-Sud Promotion, Nehir Tuna’s Divine Position (working title) offers a story of love, illustrated with a tale of three butterflies approaching candle light to find out what it is.

Written by Asmina Proedrou (whose previous feature was 2022’s Behind the Haystacks [+]), who will also direct, Hystéra tells the story of three Greek women whose lives intertwine in contemporary Athens, examining the themes of motherhood, gender roles and breaking free. It is a Greek production through Wild at Heart.

Keti Machaviarani’s Lullaby is envisioned as a socially charged story about a caregiver facing the death of her elderly patient, a job that had been the primary source of her income. It is written by the filmmaker and Nestan Kvinikadze, and it will be realised as a co-production between Greece and Georgia, through View Master Films and Vineyard Films.

Written and to be directed by Anna Gyimesi as her feature-length debut, Soft Hours tells the story of Ilona, who must defy social taboos and mourn the loss of her son to reclaim her life. This is a Hungarian-French-Slovak co-production, through the companies Kino Alfa, Kometa Films and Hitchhiker Cinema.

Someone’s Daughter is to be the directorial debut of screenwriter Staša Bajac (of Nikola Ljuca’s Humidity [+] fame), and she has also penned the script for it. It is a Serbian production by Digitalkraft, in co-production with Meander Film, which tells the story of Irina, a feminist who finds herself in a situation where her father, a beloved public figure, is accused of sexual harassment.

Finally, the Serbian-Croatian co-production Uptight Ass, staged by Naked and Dinaridi Film, was written by the duo consisting of Matija Gluščević and Dušan Zorić (who helmed the 2022 Venice Orizzonti title Have You Seen This Woman? [+]), and will be directed by Gluščević. It tells the story of “a self-centred and emotionally closed-off middle-aged history teacher, facing his father`s illness, who must embark on a journey up his own ‘arse’ to retrieve the love and vulnerability he has buried deep inside”, as is stated in the project’s description.

Here is the list of projects taking part:

Big Woman (Serbia/France)
Director: Milica Tomović
Writers: Milica Tomović, Sara Đurović, Tanja Šljivar
Producers: Dragana Jovović, Jelena Radenković
Co-producer: Jasmina Sijerčić
Production companies: Non-Aligned Films, Big Time Production
Co-production company: Bocalupo Films

Source: Cineuropa 

Confirmation (Slovenia/Austria)
Director: Darko Sinko
Writers: Darko Sinko, Andreea Valean
Producers: Vlado Bulajić, Bernhard Holzhammer
Production company: December
Co-production company: Eutopia Film

Divine Position (working title) (Turkey/Germany/France)
Director/writer: Nehir Tuna
Producers: Nehir Tuna, Dorothe Beinemeier, Thierry Lenouvel
Production company: Ignore Studio
Co-production companies: Red Balloon, Ciné-Sud Promotion

Hystéra (Greece)
Director/writer: Asmina Proedrou
Producer: Maria Kontogianni
Production company: Wild at Heart

Lullaby (Greece/Georgia)
Director: Keti Machaviarani
Writers: Keti Machaviarani, Nestan Kvinikadze
Producers: George Kyriakos, Effie Skrobola
Production company: View Master Films
Co-production company: Vineyard Films

Soft Hours (Hungary/France/Slovakia)
Director/writer: Anna Gyimesi
Producers: Genoveva Perovits, Edyta Janczak-Hiriart, Barbara Janišová Feglová
Production company: Kino Alfa
Co-production companies: Kometa Films, Hitchhiker Cinema

Someone’s Daughter (Serbia)
Director/writer: Staša Bajac
Producers: Jelena Angelovski, Ivan Pribićević
Co-producer: Dušan Kasalica
Production company: Digitalkraft
Co-production company: Meander Film

Uptight Ass (Serbia/Croatia)
Director/writer: Matija Gluščević
Co-writer: Dušan Zorić
Producers: Čarna Vučinić, Tena Gojić
Production company: Naked
Co-production company: Dinaridi Film

Source: Cineuropa