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Emilija Gašić’s folk horror “Wolf Days” and Filip Mojzeš’ family drama “The First Week of August” won the top prizes in the Sarajevo Film Festival’s CineLink Industry Days, the industry section focused on projects in different
stages of development from Southeast Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.
Gašić’s sophomore feature, which is produced by Serbia’s Non-Aligned Films and co-produced by Istok Films and Restart, won the Eurimages Co-Production Development Award, a cash prize of €20,000 ($23,000).
The film follows a woman facing menopause who turns to a folk healer who draws her into a series of increasingly ridiculous rituals, driving her to the edge of madness in search of her own liberation. Gašić’s first feature, “78 Days,” premiered in the Bright Futures section of the Intl. Film Festival Rotterdam.
In a director’s statement provided to Variety, Gašić said: “‘Wolf Days’ is inspired by my encounters with many women who have been misdiagnosed, dismissed and misunderstood within a deeply patriarchal healthcare system. This film seeks to uncover and challenge the taboos surrounding women’s health, especially menopause, and to expose the power imbalances that define both medical and personal relationships.”
The Eurimages Special Co-Production Development Award, also a cash prize of €20,000 ($23,000), went to “Mamayi,” from Ukrainian writer-director Oleksandr Roshchyn and producer Packgauz. Set in 2009, the film follows two TV reporters forced into a dirty election campaign for a pro-Russian candidate who struggle to stay honest with their work and the people.
The film marks the directorial debut of Roshchyn, known as the cinematographer behind films including 2021 Berlin Crystal Bear winner “Stop-Zemlia” and 2025 Berlin Golden Bear contender “Timestamp.”
“During a lengthy assignment in Ukraine, I began observing and imagining the personal drama of a journalist unfolding against the backdrop of pivotal socio-political events,” Roschchyn said in a director’s statement. “[‘Mamayi’] is a film about witnessing the approach of a catastrophe — about the ability to foresee it and the inability to prevent it.”
In the Works in Progress strand, the HBO Award in the amount of €30,000 ($35,000) went to Filip Mojzeš’s “The First Week of August” (pictured), produced by Tamara Babun Zovko and Matija Drniković for Wolfgang&Dolly and Black Photon. The family drama is set during an idyllic island vacation that takes a tumultuous turn when a mother’s sudden physical outburst towards her 10-year-old son exposes hidden tensions and lingering conflicts within the family.
As with his previous short films, which premiered in competition at Sarajevo, Mojzeš’ feature debut “also explores complex family dynamics,” he said in a director’s statement. “In that sense, the film represents a natural continuation of my ongoing preoccupation with the fragility of the nuclear family.”
Also in Works in Progress, the Post Republic Award, offering €30,000 ($35,000) in post-production services, went to “The White Week,” directed by Bojan Vuletić and produced by Jelena Mitrović, Boris T. Matić, Lana Matić, Danijel Hočevar and Ivan Đurović for Film House Baš Čelik, Propeler Film, Vertigo and Artikulacija. The film follows an 11-year-old boy who exploits his brother’s tragic death to fight his father and his community, until his lies expose the hypocrisy and corruption beneath a seemingly moral society.
The Avanpost Media Award, offering €30,000 ($35,000) in post-production services, went to Kazakh director Assel Aushakimova’s “Pay the Bill,” produced by Assel Yerzhanova for Film Film Film. It tells the story of a 65-year-old woman who receives an unexpected late-night phone call from a police officer, leading to a difficult night and day searching for her daughter that plunges her into a world of general indifference.
Other prizes handed out in the CineLink Co-Production Market include the Film Center Montenegro Award, which gave a €10,000 ($11,700) cash prize to Turkish director Selcen Ergun’s “How to Disappear in the Lake.” The Kosovo Cinematography Center CineLink Award in the amount of €10,000 ($11,700) went to “The Taste of the Peach,” by Georgian filmmaker Elena Mikaberidze, who also received the Next Step Studio CineLink Award. The Artekino International Prize in the amount of €6,000 ($7,000) went to “Forbidden Fruit,” from Slovenia’s Urška Djukić Lecamus.
In the CineLink Drama strand, the Croatian Audiovisual Center Drama Award in the amount of €15,000 ($17,500) went to the family drama series “You Can Always Come Back,” from creator Tena Gojić and writer Hana Jušić. The TV Drama Vision Pitch Award went to the Croatian political thriller “Stringers,” from writer-creator Nikola Kuprešanin.
Lastly, the Female Voices CineLink Award, a €20,000 ($23,000) cash prize handed out in partnership with the Slovenian Film Center and the United Nations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, went to the horror-comedy series “Little Yugoslavia,” from writer-creators Teona Strugar Mitevska and Sonja Prosenc.
The Sarajevo Film Festival runs Aug. 14 – 21.
