Competition Programme - Documentary Film 2026

Rada Šešić, programmer of the Competition Programme – Documentary Film, selected 21 films from 305 submissions for the programme: 12 feature-length and eight short documentary films, plus one film screening out of competition. The Competition Programme – Documentary Film features nine world premieres, four international premieres, and seven regional premieres.

 

“This year’s selection showcases the impressive vitality and creativity of contemporary documentary filmmaking from the region. Intimate in scale yet unmistakably political, these films reveal the resilience of individuals and communities determined to resist silence and challenge entrenched systems of power. More than half of the selected films are directed and produced by women, reflecting a growing shift towards reclaiming stories, perspectives, and spaces that have long remained under men’s domain. Moving fluidly between documentary and fiction, animation, archival footage, and poetic storytelling, the filmmakers craft distinctive cinematic languages that reimagine reality with originality, emotional depth, and moments of wit. Together, the selection offers compelling, urgent, and deeply human perspectives on the world we live in today,” Šešić said.

 

 

BEAR WITH ME, Martin Genovski (Bulgaria, 2026, 84 min.) – World Premiere

 

Retired circus trainer Maxy (80), German born of Jewish origin, who lives with her last living bear Natasha (43) in a parking lot near Amsterdam. But there is one condition - she can stay there only while the bear is alive. The story of one of the last circus trainers of wild animals in Europe and her incredible bond with a bear, told through the time capsule, with stunning archives and a contemporary perspective.

 

GOOD PEOPLE / DOBRI LUGJE, Milcho Manchevski (North Macedonia, 2026, 86 min.) – World Premiere

 

An unflinching meditation on grief, survival, and the stubborn grace of human connection, GOOD PEOPLE traces with austere restraint the aftermath of a nightclub fire in North Macedonia that claimed sixty-three young lives, rendering its survivors and quiet heroes not as symbols but as people – aching, enduring, and profoundly real. What begins as a reckoning with catastrophe becomes, almost imperceptibly, a study in resilience, a testament to the fragile but persistent power of hope.

 

THE BALKAN COWBOY, Dragana Jurišić (Croatia, Ireland, 2026, 93 min.) – World Premiere

 

Artist Dragana Jurišić travels to the town of Bijeljina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, to stage a short film in the style of the mythical cult Western director Hari Džekson (Harry Jackson). In an attempt to uncover the story of Džekson’s life and legacy, Jurišić embarks on making a Western with the local community. She meets his former collaborators, family members, and local residents, piecing together memories of Džekson’s town before the war and getting to know its inhabitants today.  The resulting documentary becomes an exploration of the impact of war on Džekson, Jurišić herself, and the town. It also asks whether the spirit of Hari Džekson still exists today.

 

THE FORBIDDEN AUNT / ZABRANJENA TETKA, Bojana Novaković (Serbia, Australia, 2026, 82 min.) – World Premiere

 

In a world overflowing with soap operas, one Serbian family shows that reality is wilder, darker, and far more gripping than fiction. After a gut-wrenching breakup, Serbian-Australian actor-turned-filmmaker Bojana Novaković leaves the dazzling world of Hollywood and heads to rural Serbia, hoping to reconnect with her eccentric, estranged Aunt Gordana for some much-needed peace. What Bojana doesn’t anticipate, however, is the storm that will pull her into a whirlwind of family secrets, forcing her to confront the hidden trauma that’s shaped four generations of women in her family.

 

WE SHALL LIVE TOGETHER / ŽIVJEĆEMO ZAJEDNO, Damir Markovina (Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2026, 75 min.) – World Premiere

 

At the outbreak of war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Roko Markovina – a socialist who served as a member of the country’s parliament between 1990 and 1996 – decided to stay in Mostar, his hometown, with his family, convinced it was his moral duty despite the ethnic conflict ravaging the town. Roko’s anti-nationalist convictions inspired him to vote against the Dayton Peace Agreement – an act that made him a symbol of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s leftists, but also a target of the nationalists’ scorn. He paid a high price to preserve his moral integrity, losing his nation, political party, city, and home. Three decades later, Markovina and his wife live in voluntary exile on a Mediterranean island, but his decisions still strain his relationship with his sons. Through their meetings, WE SHALL LIVE TOGETHER explores the legacy of war and family division, as well as what is required to be able to move on with life.

 

DON'T ASK ME IF I KILLED, Helena Maksyom (Romania, Netherlands, Germany, Ukraine, 2026, 103 min.) – International Premiere

 

When the Russian invasion shatters her world, Ukrainian filmmaker Helena Maksyom lays down her camera only to pick up a rifle — and then takes up both. Across a thousand days at war, she films the moral unravelling of ordinary people forced to kill, and the fragile fight to keep a soul intact when violence becomes a part of daily life.

 

FRAGMENTS OF BELONGING / TRAGOVI PRIPADANJA, Tatjana Božić (Croatia, Netherlands, Germany, 2026, 80 min.) – International Premiere

 

Tatjana is lonely. Born in Croatia, she lived in various locations around Europe before settling in Amsterdam. Fifteen years later, her teenage son is embarrassed by his strange mother, who speaks with a strong Slavic accent and suffers from a lack of Dutch restraint. But this is nothing new: Tatjana has always felt like an outsider everywhere she goes. Now, determined finally to find the Holy Grail of belonging, she is visiting friends and relatives scattered around Europe to ask them how.

 

WHEN I GET OUT / KO PRIDEM VEN, Metod Pevec (Slovenia, 2026, 106 min.) – International Premiere

 

The film's director and a psychiatrist go to Dob Prison in central Slovenia. The director believes there are stories locked up there, while the psychiatrist believes his psychodrama method can open up a redemptive creative space and a glimpse into the convicts' future. A liberated territory in a closed area?

 

32 METERS, Morteza Atabaki (Türkiye, Iran, Qatar, 2025, 83 min.) – Regional Premiere

 

In a small patriarchal village, Halime and her friend Gönül bring women together through an unexpected initiative — organizing a women-only shooting competition that quietly challenges longstanding norms. What begins as a simple idea gradually creates a space for connection, courage, and collective presence.

 

BUGBOY, Lucas Paleocrassas (Greece, France, Denmark, 2026, 87 min.) – Regional Premiere

 

George, a shy teenager with misaligned eyes, struggles to connect with others after his parents’ traumatic divorce. Finding refuge in the world of insects, he bonds with a cricket named Isabella, who inspires him to reimagine his place in the world. Through a portrait of transformation and self-discovery, BUGBOY reminds us that even the smallest creatures can help us find where we belong.

 

ELECTING MS SANTA, Raisa Răzmeriță (Moldova, Romania, 2025, 95 min.) – Regional Premiere 

 

Politics in Moldova is no longer just a man's game – at least, not in Elena’s village. By launching a bold bid for local office, the forty-two-year-old woman becomes the uncomfortable face of change. Her decision to run is more than just a political campaign: it is the story of a woman daring to dismantle patriarchal boundaries while her entire nation stands on the threshold of historic transformation, edging closer to the European Union.

 

TO HOLD A MOUNTAIN / PLANINA, Biljana Tutorov, Petar Glomazić (Serbia, France, Montenegro, Slovenia, Croatia, 2026, 105 min.) – Regional Premiere

 

In the remote highlands of Montenegro’s Sinjajevina plateau, Gara and her thirteen-year-old daughter Nada return to their ancestral pastures every summer, where they live in symbiosis with the mountain they call “Mother.” Their fragile world comes under threat, however, when the Montenegrin government advances plans for a NATO-backed military training ground to be installed in the heart of this protected landscape. A shepherd mother and daughter proudly defend their mountain from the threat of becoming a training ground for mortar shelling, stirring memories of the violence that shattered their family.

 

 

BRO RAM / RAM BHAI, Branko Schmidt (Croatia, 2026, 14 min.) – World Premiere

 

While the success of the Croatian economy is highly dependent on immigrant workers, brutal attacks on people because of their race, religion, ethnicity, or the colour of their skin are still a regular occurrence in the country. By telling the story of Ram, a Nepalese delivery worker in Zagreb, BRO RAM lifts the curtain on inhumane living and working conditions faced by immigrant workers, not only in Croatia but also throughout the region and further afield.

 

FAHRUDIN, Alen Drljević (Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2026, 20 min.) – World Premiere

Cast: Mak Softić, Igor Skvarica

 

In 1995, seven-year-old Fahrudin Muminović survived a mass execution, becoming a living symbol of suffering, as well as of life’s triumph over destruction.

 

OF LIGHT GHOSTS / VON LICHTERGEISTERN, Isabella Fellinger (Austria, 2026, 27 min.) – World Premiere

 

Two off-screen voices guide us into the heart of a myth as we follow women wearing illuminated lanterns. OF LIGHT GHOSTS is a film about this, but above all about light itself, its history, and its disappearance.

 

THE CAPTAIN AND THE CASPIAN SEA / KAPITAN VƏ XƏZƏR DƏNİZİ, Turkan Huseyn (Azerbaijan, 2026, 30 min.) – World Premiere

 

Cast: Orkhan Iskandarli, Murad Mammadov, Sabir Mammadov, Vyachaslav Ahmadyarov

 

On the night of 20 January 1990, a handful of Azerbaijani civilian ship captains defied the Soviet Navy in the Caspian Sea, risking everything in an unequal battle for their country's freedom.

 

DEAR ORCHID, Hana Selena Sokolović (Bosna and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Netherlands, 2026, 18 min.) – International Premiere

 

Guided by her eldest sister’s childhood diary, which was written during the Siege of Sarajevo, the director retraces the refugee experience of her two sisters. DEAR ORCHID examines how memories are preserved, inherited, and shaped by landscapes, absences, and sisterhood.

 

ASPARAGUS BEAR / MEDO U ŠPAROGAMA, Ivan Grgur (Croatia, 2025, 18 min.) – Regional Premiere

 

The unusual appearance of a bear in a small town sparks a conflict, dividing the community into skeptics and those who believe the bear truly exists.

 

HOLY DEFIANCE / TIHA MISA, Karla Jelić (Croatia, 2026, 15 min.) – Regional Premiere

 

On the first Saturday of every month, on the main squares of Croatian cities, hundreds of men kneel and pray together. In their prayers, they advocate for re-traditionalization, patriarchy, and the restriction of women's freedoms. Multimedia artist Arijana Lekić Fridrih travels to a different city on each first Saturday and, during the prayer, performs her feminist piece, "Silent Mass." The prayer participants have tried in various ways to prevent her performances.

 

THE FERRY FLOWS / PAROM PLYVE, Zhora Papoian (Ukraine, United Kingdom, 2026, 18 min.)

 – Regional Premiere

 

An elderly music teacher from a small Ukrainian island turns into a military conductor at soldier's funerals while trying to keep his children's ensemble afloat.

 

 

YUGO GOES TO AMERICA / YUGO IDE U AMERIKU, Filip Grujić, Aleksa Borković (Serbia, Croatia, 2026, 87 min.) – National Premiere

 

Four millennials, born in the 1990s in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, set off on a road trip across the United States in a Yugo, an old Yugoslav car once labelled “the worst car in the history of the USA.” Traveling through twenty-four states from New York City to Los Angeles, they search for an answer to the question: What does it mean to be the worst? Along the way, they meet people who were involved in importing the Yugo in the 1980s, present-day Yugo enthusiasts, Americans, and immigrants from post-Yugoslav countries. They also come face to face with their own personal history and the ways it is inseparable from the Yugo.