Igor Bezinović’s Fiume o morte! (Croatia/Italy/Slovenia) led the film winners, taking Best Film, while Bezinović also received Best Director and Best Screenplay.

Jara Sofija Ostan won Best Leading Actress for Kaj ti je deklica (directed by Urška Djukić), which also secured Best Debut Film. Leon Lučev was named Best Leading Actor for The Working Class Goes to Hell; newcomer Lidija Kordić received the Rising Star Award for the same title.

In television, Operation Sabre (Sablja) (Serbia/Bulgaria), created by Vladimir Tagić and Goran Stanković, won Best TV Series. Milica Gojković and Dragan Mićanović were awarded Best Leading Actress and Best Leading Actor in a TV series, respectively, both for Operation Sabre.

Winners were selected by a professional jury of more than 550 members of a new Film & TV Academy spanning the Adriatic region, an institution now being established by the Adriatic Region Festival Network—Sarajevo Film Festival, Festival of Auteur Film Belgrade, and Zagreb Film Festival.

AFA committee president Mirsad Purivatra said the debut edition fulfilled long-held plans to recognise regional creativity; Sarajevo Film Festival director Jovan Marjanović framed the event as a space for dialogue and intergenerational exchange; and Zagreb Film Festival director Boris T. Matić emphasised cross-border co-production as the initiative’s strength. Festival of Auteur Film director Igor Stanković highlighted the awards as a bridge between diverse filmmaking poetics and a defender of creative freedom.

Positioned at the start of the international awards season, the AFA Awards aim to boost the global visibility and market placement of Adriatic films and series.