The Network of Festivals in the Adriatic Region, the special regional gathering launched at the initiative of Sarajevo Film Festival, has combined four festivals from four countries – Sarajevo Film Festival (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Auteur Film Festival (Serbia), Herceg Novi Film Festival (Montenegro), and Zagreb Film Festival (Croatia). After last year’s successful Spring Edition, the collaboration of the four festivals has continued this fall at ZFF with a special film program, which will remain available until December 4 in the online video library of the ondemand.kinomeetingpoint.ba platform.

The diverse selection of the Network of Festivals in the Adriatic Region’s program consists of six recent European films presented and awarded at the latest film festivals in Cannes, Berlin, and Sundance, as well as the classic The Fourteenth Day by Zdravko Velimirović, one of the first Yugoslav films shown in the main selection in Cannes.

Two films from the program are laureates from the International Film Festival in Berlin. Natural Light by Hungarian director Dénes Nagy, a brutal drama about the endurance and mental toil of war influenced by the visual heritage of A. Tarkovsky, won the Silver Bear winner for Best Director, while the film Brother’s Keeper by Turkish director Ferit Karahan, described as a mixture of Oliver Twist and The Death of Mr Lazarescu, won the FIPRESCI Award in Berlin.

Human Factors by Ronny Trocker, an Italian director from Bruxelles, shown at Sundance and Berlinale, is an incisive study of a family breakdown told through an intriguing cat-and-mouse story. The program also features German Lessons, the first feature film by Pavel G. Vesnakov, one of the most successful young Bulgarian directors, known for his provocative realistic films which deal with social decay and interpersonal relationships.

Small Body, the film debut by Italian director Laura Samani, premiered at Critic’s Week in Cannes and recently won the audience award, Extraordinary Stories Award, at the Festival in Seville. This mystical fairy tale about grieving, death, and healing based on old traditional beliefs in the Alps, takes viewers to early 20th century Italy.

The plot of the French-Belgian film The Enemy by Stephan Streker, inspired by a true story, may be well-known to European fans of the true crime genre. When a dead mistress was found in the hotel room of a well-known politician a few years ago, it divided the Belgian public opinion. The director masterfully lets the audience be the judge, thus questioning their judgements and beliefs.

This special competition program was already held in three festivals from the Network, and the best film will be announced December 4 at the latest festival, the Auteur Film Festival in Belgrade. By tallying audience votes, the best film will be awarded with the Adriatic Audience Award.

The films are available online on the Sarajevo Film Festival platform ondemand.kinomeetingpoint.ba until December 4. Renting a single film for 3 euros is possible after registration.