Director: Robert Budina
In a picturesque Albanian city on the shores of Lake Ohrid, Aida reigns as a troublesome, profitable businesswoman. As metropolis planner, she manages the allocation of profitable EU subsidies, navigating a corrupt system the place her boss pockets giant parts of the funds. To take care of her place on this ultra-masculine, patriarchal world, Aida isn’t above accepting the occasional bribe herself. Her rigorously constructed life crumbles when her teenage son Mark is accused of sexual assault by a classmate. Satisfied of his innocence, Aida launches her personal investigation, defying each her husband’s needs and police authority. As she delves deeper, Aida encounters a suffocating wall of silence, envy, and deep-seated prejudice. Her relentless pursuit of the reality reveals a tangled internet of lies that threatens to unravel all the things she’s constructed. Aida quickly realizes she should confront the very monster she helped create – a corrupt system she’s lengthy been complicit in. Her journey not solely challenges her beliefs about her son however forces her to reckon together with her personal ethical compromises. Along with her household’s future and her personal redemption at stake, Aida should resolve how far she’s prepared to go and what she’s ready to sacrifice in her quest for justice.
Cat’s Cry – Canada, Serbia, Croatia
Director: Sanja Zivković
In a small Serbian city, Milena desires of fame and independence amidst the attract of a Serbian music channel. Her aspirations and plans for the long run are challenged when she provides delivery to a child with a uncommon genetic situation referred to as “Cat’s Cry”. Whereas her companion Igor and his household refuse to take accountability for the infant, her father, Stamen, a retired manufacturing facility employee, urges Milena to depart Igor and return residence, providing to boost the kid collectively. Overwhelmed and scared of her future, Milena disappears. Now Stamen and his new spouse, Vera, should combat a flawed Serbian social system for custody of their granddaughter, whereas Milena struggles to search out her personal means ahead.
Mom Mara – Serbia, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro
Director: Mirjana Karanović
Mara, a profitable businesswoman and single mom, instantly loses her son Nemanja to an premature dying. She clamps up and refuses to point out feelings being repulsive and unavailable for any communication on the topic together with her family and friends. With buried trauma deep inside her, she meets Milan, Nemanja’s buddy. Milan is somebody she intends to make use of to search out out about her son’s life. Feelings they each share towards Nemanja and his sudden dying brings them collectively and provoke bodily relationship. Though she desires to maintain him at a distance and preserve their relationship purely bodily, she begins to speak in confidence to him. Not figuring out what she desires she realizes she enjoys his firm. Whereas spending a day collectively at a floating home on the river when Mara recounts how she discovered her son lifeless. Milan begins to see Mara for what she actually is, and for the primary time, they really feel actual closeness and tenderness as two human beings. ‘Mirjana Karanović shines as each creator and star of this nuanced drama a few middle-aged lady navigating loss, tailored from components of a Tanja Šljivar play.’ (Movie Verdict)
DJ Ahmet – North Macedonia, Czech Republic, Serbia, Croatia
Director: Georgi M. Unkovski
Ahmet, a 15-year-old boy from a distant Yuruk village in North Macedonia, finds refuge in music whereas navigating his father’s expectations, a conservative group, and his first expertise with love — a woman already promised to another person. DJ AHMET world premiered at Sundance Movie Competition in January 2025 and gained each the World Cinema Dramatic Particular Jury Award for Inventive Imaginative and prescient and the Viewers Award within the World Cinema Dramatic Competitors.
When Santa Was a Communist – Bosnia and Herzegovina/Croatia/Serbia
Director: Emir Kapetanovic
December 2023. An appearing troupe is occurring tour with a play about Santa Claus to unfold vacation cheer within the small cities of post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina. Whereas the kids are delighted, the looks of Santa Claus reignites previous conflicts between the adults. The movie was first developed and workshopped at SEEfest Accelerator. It world premiered at Sarajevo Movie Competition in August 2024.
