Competition Programme – Narrative Feature Film 2026

Preselectors: 

Arman Fatić, main preselector
Berina Mušanović
Emir Solaković

Elma Tataragić, the programmer of the Competition Programme – Narrative Feature Film, has included nine films in the programme, of which one film will have its world premiere, one its international premiere, one its European premiere, and six their regional premiere.

 

“This year’s Sarajevo Film Festival Competition programme presents nine new feature films from across the region. The selection is dominated by second and third features, alongside one debut and two fifth feature films, reflecting both the emergence of new voices and the continued development of established auteurs. Together, these nine films offer a rich panorama of contemporary regional cinema, spanning intimate family dramas, coming-of-age stories, social realism, and formally adventurous works. With six of the nine films directed by women, this year's Competition reflects not only the artistic diversity of the region but also the growing strength and plurality of voices shaping its cinematic future,” Tataragić said about the selection.

 

 

Award in the amount of €16,000

Award in the amount of €10,000, sponsored by the United Nations in Bosnia and Herzegovina in cooperation with UNESCO

Award in the amount of €2,500, sponsored by L’Oréal Paris

Award in the amount of €2,500

 

EVERYTHING THAT'S WRONG WITH YOU / VSE, KAR JE NAROBE S TABO, Urša Menart (Slovenia, Germany, Serbia, 2026, 97 min.) – World Premiere

 

Cast: Anuša Kodelja, Klara Kuk, Matija Vastl, Kaja Ocvirk, Mojca Fatur, Ivana Percan Kodarin, Marjuta Slamič

 

After the emotional collapse that follows her mother’s death, Maruša builds an online bond with Alja, a nurse living in a small coastal town in Germany. Bonding through humor over their shared struggles, Maruša and Alja quickly develop a friendship that is put to the test when they finally meet in person.

 

SMALL THINGS / MALE STVARI, Zvonimir Jurić (Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, 2026, 80 min.) – International Premiere

Cast: Marija Škaričić, Izudin Bajrović, Ivana Roščić, Juraj Lerotić, Bepina Baričević, Borna Mihovilović

 

During a winter weekend, sisters Anica and Irena, accompanied by Irena’s two children, travel to an island to visit their father and their brother Ivan, a quiet loner. The reason for the gathering is their father’s decision to sell the family land. Confined in the worn-down family house, the members of the family are forced to confront long-suppressed tensions and difficult choices, while one of them will have to make the ultimate sacrifice.

 

SKATEBOARDING IS NOT FOR GIRLS / SKEJTANJETO NE E ZA DEVOJCHINJA, Dina Duma (North Macedonia, Belgium, Slovenia, Croatia, 2026, 82 min.) – European Premiere

 

Cast: Efkjar Abaz, Simonida Selimovič, Džefrina Jašari, Ganimet Abdula

 

In Skopje, eleven-year-old Adela and her elder sister Zara share a deep bond shaped by their navigation of two contradictory worlds. At school, they are typical, rebellious teens with skateboards, social media, crop tops, and boyfriends. After school, in a quiet and disciplined mode, they help their mother with cleaning jobs to make ends meet. When poverty shakes the family, Adela tries to find a way to save her sister – still a minor – from a fate that is becoming almost inevitable: an arranged marriage.

 

17, Kosara Mitić (North Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia, 2026, 105 min.) – Regional Premiere

 

Cast: Eva Kostić, Martina Danilovska, Dame Joveski, Eva Stojčevska, Petar Manić

 

Seventeen-year-old Sara is hiding a secret during a school trip. When the excursion spirals out of control and Sara witnesses her friend Lina being sexually assaulted, the two girls try to break the cycle of casual violence. This seals an everlasting bond between them.

 

DUA, Blerta Basholli (Kosovo*, Switzerland, France, 2026, 101 min.) - Regional Premiere

 

Cast: Pinea Matoshi, Vlera Bilalli, Kaona Matoshi, Yllka Gashi, Kushtrim Hoxha, Andi Bajgora

 

Pristina, Kosovo, late 1990s. As war looms and ethnic tensions escalate, thirteen-year-old Dua struggles to find her place among her peers and within her changing body. After an incident shakes her community, she becomes a target herself and bonds with a fearless girl who draws her towards an unexpected form of resistance. Between the daily violence and the growing threat of exile, there is little room for quiet awakenings.

 

EVERYTIME, Sandra Wollner (Austria, Germany, 2026, 121 min.)

– Regional Premiere

 

Cast: Birgit Minichmayr, Tristan Lopez, Lotte Shirin Keiling, Carla Hüttermann, Naomi Elia Richard

 

A tragedy brings a mother, a daughter, and a teenage boy together. Struggling with blame and forgiveness, the unlikely trio takes a trip to Tenerife for a family holiday that never happens. Under the glow of the sun, past and present quietly start to overlap.

 

SHAME AND MONEY, Visar Morina (Germany, Kosovo*, Slovenia, Albania, North Macedonia, Belgium, 2026, 129 min.) – Regional Premiere

 

Cast: Astrit Kabashi, Flonja Kodheli, Kumrije Hoxha, Fiona Gllavica, Alban Ukaj, Abdinaser Beka, Tristan Halilaj, Aria Shala

 

A couple in their forties live with their extended family in rural Kosovo, where they make a modest living from their farm. Following a familial dispute, their livelihood is lost. They are forced to move to Pristina, where the pressure to provide for their family weighs heavily on the parents as they do their best to find work and a place to stay. A journey into a hyper-capitalist society begins.

 

SUPPORTING ROLE / MEOREKHARISKHOVANI ROLI, Ana Urushadze (Georgia, Estonia, Türkiye, 2026, 139 min.) – Regional Premiere

 

Cast: Irakli Kvirikadze, Zurab Sturua, Eka Demetradze, Sandro Samkharadze, Nino Kasradze, Dato Bakhtadze, Nata Murvanidze, Elene Maisuradze

 

A retired Georgian film star, once accustomed to playing heroic leading roles, embarks on a cathartic journey after a casting session with a young female director, who offers him the supporting role of a bizarre and deeply unsympathetic character in her debut feature. He leaves the audition unconvinced, even slightly offended. Yet as the story unfolds, he gradually surrenders to the role, becoming captivated by the strange and the unknown. The experience awakens something within him, setting in motion an irreversible process of self-transformation.

 

YOU DON'T BELONG HERE / NU E LOCUL TĂU AICI, Florin Șerban (Romania, 2026, 154 min.) – Regional Premiere

 

Cast: Adrian Văncică, Teodor Butănescu, Cristina Richter, Alex Conovaru, Izdrailă Janir

 

Marius, the chief medical officer at a hospital in his small hometown, is raising his teenage son Ioan alone after the death of his wife. Marius is a confident professional who has no idea what his son gets up to at night: cycling through town vandalising cars with a gang of masked vigilantes. Marius’s world is shaken when he learns the police have come to suspect his son of murder.