Competition Programme – Narrative Short Film 2026

Preselectors: 

Arman Fatić, main preselector
Berina Mušanović
Emir Solaković

In the Competition Programme – Narrative Short Film, programmer Elma Tataragić selected ten short films for this year's programme from over 700 titles watched: three animated and seven live-action short films. Five films will have their world premiere in Sarajevo, and five their regional premiere.

 

"As with the Competition Programme – Narrative Feature Film, this selection is also led by female directors, with seven films in the selection, and the programme itself is marked by bold yet intimate stories and a strong visual style across all the selected films. This year's selection also confirms that short film remains a space in which some of the boldest and most inventive cinematic expressions of today are being created. Through different poetics and authorial sensibilities, the films in the programme explore intimate and social themes, showing how the short form can be just as emotionally powerful and artistically ambitious as feature-length film. The programme brings an exciting encounter between established authors and new talents whose voices will undoubtedly continue to develop on the international film scene as well," said Tataragić about the selection.

 

 

Award in the amount of €2,500

 

 

DITCH / MIRHÓ, Marianna Vas (Hungary, 2026, 24 min.) - World Premiere

 

Cast: Lívia Banka, Gvendolin Dobrovszki, Adél Garbacz, Nándor Szilágyi

 

Two young sisters spend the sultry summer in constant tension and a rivalry for love and attention. While outside the wheels of history slowly turn, inside the confined cosmos of Grandma’s garden a gesture of resentment brings unforeseen trouble.

 

HIDDEN IN FRAME / DAMALULI, Anna Sarukhanova (Georgia, United Kingdom, 2026, 16 min.) – World Premiere

 

Cast: Tina Eradze, Taisia Eradze, Nika Machaidze, Eka Mzhavanadze

 

As Georgia descends into political turmoil, Nata returns from abroad to her recently deceased grandmother’s flat in Tbilisi. Upon discovering someone has been living there, she begins to uncover family secrets.

 

MAMAMA, Danica Dakić (Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2026, 8 min.) – World Premiere

 

Cast: Dragica Cvitanović

 

An elderly woman walks through the suburbs of post-war Sarajevo. The city becomes the image of her presence and disappearance, a space between those who leave and those who stay.

 

PATCH / ZAKRPA, Luka Galešić (Croatia, 2026, 13 min.) – World Premiere

 

Cast: Lana Barić, Tea Ljubešić, Andrija Tomić, Lana Meniga, Iva Kraljević

 

Twenty-two-year-old Iva lives with her mother, Davorka, in a cramped apartment. Their relationship is marked by dependence, love, and suffocation. While Iva copes with panic attacks by running, Davorka controls every aspect of her life.

 

PORKATAL, Sis Gürdal (Türkiye, France, United Kingdom, 2026, 16 min.) – World Premiere

 

Cast: Musab Yılmaz, Naz Göktan, Merdan Karataş, Nur Pera Abuç, Tülay Akçakmak, İrfan Akçakmak

 

On his sixth birthday, Engin is separated from his mother, with whom he has lived in prison since his birth. Taken in by his grandparents, the boy struggles to adapt to the harsh realities of life in their village while working out a plan to reunite with his mother.

 

ADGWA-ATA, Zsuzsanna Kreif (Hungary, France, 2026, 15 min.) – Regional Premiere

 

Abducted into a jungle tribe’s brutal initiation, three adolescent girls enter a divine dimension — where taming their soul animals – giant snakes – becomes the only path to adulthood.

 

COSMONAUTS / KOZMONAVTI, Leo Černic (Slovenia, Italy, 2026, 14 min.) – Regional Premiere

 

Cast: Leo Černic

 

On an intergalactic cruise for singles, lonely souls chase a kiss, a caress, or just a glimpse of love among the stars.

 

GO OUTSIDE AND HUG A TREE, Irina Alexiu (Romania, 2026, 14 min.) – Regional Premiere

 

Cast: Valeria Stoica, Silvana Mihai, Eduard Chimac, Alexia Gales, Alex Munteanu

 

When a rising musician loses her inspiration in a hyper-competitive indie scene, she embarks on an eerie, fever-dream quest that leads her to a bizarre dilemma: reclaiming her creativity by performing a sacrifice.

 

MOTHERHOOD, Anca Damian (Romania, Belgium, France, 2026, 18 min.) – Regional Premiere

 

Cast: Lizzie Brochere

 

From childhood onward, rules are imposed on us, behaviours are dictated to us, and we are told “how to live,” but we are never prepared for the difficulty of “being.” This film explores this question through the lens of motherhood.

 

NOBODY SAID ANYTHING / NIKO NIŠTA NIJE REKAO, Tamara Todorović (Serbia, France, Slovenia, Croatia, 2026, 15 min.) – Regional Premiere

 

Cast: Ivana Vuković, Milica Stefanović, Iva Kraljević, Kalina Šutić, Elena Popović, Viktorija Vasiljević, Marta Grujić, Jovan Belobrković

 

Katarina is called to her daughter’s friend’s home to confront the consequences of a seemingly innocent game that has spiralled out of control.