Homelands

Built solely from forensic visual archive and testimonies, Silence of Reason acts as a memory itself: elusive, fluid, rejecting framing, moving in all directions, spatial and temporal. The singular experiences of violence and torture to women from the Foča rape camps during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina become our own collective memories, surpassing time and space.

Maria, is a single mother living in Serbia where housing is unpredictable, healthcare expensive and job opportunities are scarce. Desperate to provide for herself and her 6-year-old son, she resorts to petty scams to make ends meet. Stefan Ivančić’s Upon Sunrise, offers a poignant glimpse into the everyday struggles of a woman trying her hardest to navigate grave social inequality, with little to no support from the state.

A small town orchestra goes on a tour to Austria - an occasion to escape their everyday lives, indulge in heavy partying and try to connect with their true emotions. However, not everything will go as planned...

Landscapes of Resistance traces a journey through the memories of antifascist fighter Sonja (97), the first Partisan woman in Serbia, who was also one of the leaders of the Resistance movement at Auschwitz. We make her story travel through time towards the bodies of the new generation of antifascists, bespeaking that it is always possible to think and practice resistance.

Communist ideals have long lost their value in Yiwu, a city with 600 Christmas factories, in which Christmas as we know it is produced for the entire world. With rising wages, the workers in Christmas factories can now afford newest iPhones, but they still live in crowded dormitories. All migrants in their own country, nostalgic for some place far away, some miss their families left in hometowns, other miss their friends and lovers from the factories when they go home for holidays. Young generation is already tired of long factory hours, chemical fumes and glitter particles, and they do not care for their parents' wishes to get educated. Stuck in between Chinese tradition and the newly discovered Chinese dream, they want their own businesses, to be rich, to be independent, to be in love.

Time as punishment — of juvenile inmates and bodies that become heavy in prescribed spaces.

Thirteen European directors explore the theme of Sarajevo; what this city has represented in European history over the past hundred years, and what Sarajevo stands for today in Europe. These eminent filmmakers of different generations and origins offer exceptional singular styles and visions.

NATO bombing of Serbia in 1999. James, a young journalist on his first deployment abroad, is faced with the absurd reality of news production and is forced to choose between his career and his moral code.

Jelena Maksimović and Dušan Grubin explore coming of age and masculinity in the township of Zemun in their joint directorial debut.

Filip, a sophisticated university professor, goes with his wife to a spa on the coast. After a few of days spent in the comfy and monotonous ambiance of the hotel, their seemingly ideal marriage is over. Filip is left by his wife. Everything seems to indicate that his life is collapsing, but Filip, refined and armed with confidence, faces each new circumstance with unusual ease. Deep in the forest, a new fantasy world will break him down, but also give him a chance for a new beginning.

1999: While NATO was bombing Yugoslavia, a truck containing 53 dead bodies plunged into the Danube near the border with Romania. No enquiries were carried out. Previously, in Suva Reka, Kosovo: Serbian police herd villagers together. A woman experiences terrible things, bodies disappear into remote mass graves. People as little more than mere matter.

In 19th-century Montenegro, the free mountain territories are surrounded by Turkish forces, isolated from the West and steeped in conservatism, patriarchy, and superstition. Morlak, a poet and bishop inspired by the historical figure Petar II Petrović Njegoš, leads his tribe in resisting the invaders. Gravely ill, he is sent to southern Italy in search of a cure. The journey takes him to a house in Naples, a city that contrasts sharply with his homeland’s isolated hills. As Morlak contemplates his existence, his loyal servant Djuko struggles with profound nostalgia, driven by the fear of his master’s death in a foreign land.

Adnan is driving a grocery van on his way to sell produce at the market. While he is waiting for a friend's phone call, he suspects his loyalty.

After serving a juvenile sentence in prison, the delinquent's regained freedom smells mainly of the corridors of the German authorities. David tries to find structure, but frustration and lethargy soon crowd out the stigmatized ex-con's good intentions. Too much time with old friends in the cold, wet winter weather, a letterbox full of annoying post and his permanent lack of money soon cause the adolescent to relapse. The “good life” appears as an abstract idea that doesn't seem to be meant for him and his friends.

Rio, an introverted young man, tries to make a living for himself by commiting petty theft in restaurants and resorts around the Croatian coast. His life, however, drastically changes when Andrea, a young Serbian part-time worker, enters his life, with the two becoming partners in crime, planning a major heist of two wealthy women staying at the hotel Andrea works at.

Branka is a young caretaker who has recently moved to an island to look after an elderly woman. After the harsh winter is over and her job is finished, Branka decides to stay on the island for the summer season. She gets a job in tourism, but the pay is meager and the job exhausting, making it just a temporary solution.