Two distinctive films have earned top honors at the Sarajevo Film Festival’s CineLink Industry Days, an initiative showcasing development-stage projects from Southeast Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. Emilija Gašić’s psychological folk horror feature “Wolf Days” and Filip Mojzeš’s family drama “The First Week of August” captured the festival’s most prestigious awards, each securing €20,000 and €30,000 respectively in production funding.
Gašić’s sophomore feature, produced by Serbian production company Non-Aligned Films alongside international partners, examines a woman navigating menopause who becomes entangled with a folk healer leading her through bizarre rituals. The filmmaker described the work as an exploration of systemic failures within patriarchal healthcare systems and societal taboos surrounding women’s health. Mojzeš’s directorial debut centers on a family vacation that spirals into conflict when a mother’s violent outburst toward her young son unravels deep-seated family tensions.
Additional recognition went to Ukrainian filmmaker Oleksandr Roshchyn’s directorial debut “Mamayi,” which received a €20,000 development award. The film traces two television journalists navigating ethical compromises during a pro-Russian election campaign in 2009. Meanwhile, Bojan Vuletić’s “The White Week” and Assel Aushakimova’s “Pay the Bill” secured post-production funding through separate industry awards, reflecting the festival’s commitment to supporting filmmakers across diverse regions and genres.
Originally reported by Variety →
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