The Sarajevo Film Festival has unveiled its Documentary Film Competition for 2026, drawing 22 titles from 305 submissions across the region. The lineup includes 13 feature-length documentaries and eight shorts, alongside one feature screening out of competition. Nine films will have their world premiere in Sarajevo, four their international premiere, and eight their regional premiere.
Programmer Rada Šešić described the selection as marked by political urgency delivered through intimate scale. She pointed to a body of work that moves between documentary and fiction, incorporating animation, archival footage, and poetic storytelling techniques. More than half the films come from women directors and producers, a trend she framed as part of a broader reclaiming of perspectives that have historically sat with men.
The feature documentary slate opens with four world premieres from the region, including Milcho Manchevski’s Good People from North Macedonia and Martin Genovski’s Bear With Me from Bulgaria. Croatian-Irish co-production The Balkan Cowboy, directed by Dragana Jurišić, and Bojana Novaković’s Serbian-Australian film The Forbidden Aunt round out the world premiere group, alongside Damir Markovina’s We Shall Live Together.
International premieres include Helena Maksyom’s Ukraine-set Don’t Ask Me If I Killed, a co-production spanning Romania, the Netherlands, Germany, and Ukraine, and Metod Pevec’s Slovenian film When I Get Out. The remaining five features, spanning Türkiye, Iran, Qatar, Greece, France, Denmark, Moldova, and Serbia, arrive in Sarajevo as regional premieres.
The short documentary section features eight films from Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria, Azerbaijan, Serbia, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom. Alen Drljević’s Fahrudin and Branko Schmidt’s Bro Ram both premiere in the world premiere slot, while Isabella Fellinger’s Austrian short Of Light Ghosts and Turkan Huseyin’s Azerbaijani entry The Captain and the Caspian Sea join them.
Serbian-Croatian production Yugo Goes to America, directed by Filip Grujić and Aleksa Borković, screens out of competition and will have its Bosnian-Herzegovinian premiere.
Three awards will be presented in the documentary section. The Heart of Sarajevo for Best Documentary Feature Film, an Oscar-qualifying prize, carries a €4,000 award sponsored by the Government of Switzerland. The Heart of Sarajevo for Best Short Documentary Film comes with €2,000, and a Special Jury Prize of €2,500 will also be handed out.
The documentary selection sits within a wider Competition Programme of 51 films across four sections this year, chosen by a selection team led by Creative Director Izeta Građević from 1,215 submissions in total.
The 32nd Sarajevo Film Festival runs from 14 to 21 August 2026.
