The Sarajevo Film Festival announces the selection of 50 emerging film professionals from Southeast Europe and the Southern Caucasus for the 20th edition of Talents Sarajevo, held under the theme REALITY, REWRITTEN, as part of the 32nd Sarajevo Film Festival.
Representing 14 of the 20 eligible countries, the participants were chosen from a competitive pool of 632 applicants, with Greece, Romania, and Türkiye contributing the highest number of applicants.
The selected participants will take part in an intensive programme of masterclasses, workshops, discussions, and screenings during the upcoming edition of Talents Sarajevo, working closely with internationally acclaimed mentors and regional peers across eight programme modules: Directors Summit, Producers Summit, Acting Studio, Camera Studio, Editing Studio, Pack & Pitch, Script Station, and Talent Press.
The 2026 edition unfolds under the theme Reality, Rewritten, exploring authorship, collaboration, and transformation in the filmmaking process. It examines the ways films are shaped through collective creative work and how stories evolve throughout every stage of production. While a film may begin with a script, an idea, a memory, or documentary material, its meaning continuously transforms through collaboration between writers, directors, actors, cinematographers, editors, producers, and other creative contributors.
The theme focuses on filmmaking as a process of interpretation and negotiation, where each artistic decision, from performance and framing to sound, rhythm, and editing, influences how a story is ultimately understood. Rather than viewing authorship as the vision of a single individual, the programme examines filmmaking as a shared creative practice built through exchange, trust, and collaboration across disciplines.
By addressing the relationship between individual vision and collective creation, the theme also reflects on contemporary filmmaking environments, where increasingly complex production models and collaborative storytelling formats continue to reshape the way films and series are developed and produced.
Since its inception in 2006 in partnership with the Berlin International Film Festival and Berlinale Talents, Talents Sarajevo has been a cornerstone of CineLink Industry Days. It focuses on skill-building, training, and cross-border collaboration, offering young filmmakers the chance to develop their craft, engage with industry challenges, and build enduring connections within the global film community.
