Industry Days—Sarajevo’s buzzy industry confab—were prepared to go virtual from the moment that the virus began sweeping across Europe in March.
In spite of the pandemic, Hadzic says a record number of films were submitted, with the selection reflecting the emergence of a dynamic wave of young, diverse voices. “We are getting out of this old Balkan way of making films, to a much more…European style of filmmaking,” he says. Among the highlights of this year’s market is “Melting of the Ruler,” from Montenegro’s Ivan Salatić, whose feature debut “You Have the Night” premiered in Venice Critics’ Week. Produced by Jelena Angelovski of Meander Film, it tells the untold stories of average villagers and their beloved ruler in 19th-century Montenegro.
Another buzz title is “Blue Banks,” Romanian director Andreea Cristina Bortun’s feature debut about a poor village woman who’s forced to leave her son behind when she finds a job in Marseille. Romania’s Atelier de Film is producing. “The Otter,” from the Bosnian filmmaker Srđan Vuletić, is the story of a shy 16-year-old girl whose life begins to unravel after the sudden death of her father, forcing her to reinvent herself. It’s produced by Montenegro’s Artikulacija Film.
“Walls” is the first feature from Bosnia’s Amra Mehić. Produced by Relative Pictures, it’s the story of a couple whose seemingly happy home begins to fall apart when the wife starts to rebel against her husband’s strict rules.