Six French-speaking Belgian films are part of the selection at the 31st SFF Sarajevo Film Festival!
This year, the Sarajevo Film Festival is showcasing six French-speaking Belgian works, including “Every Time You Leave, You Are Born Again” by Mladen Bundalo, which will be in the official competition for the 31st edition.
Founded in 1995, in the midst of the siege of Sarajevo, the festival has, over three decades, evolved from an act of cultural resistance into a major event on the international film calendar. At the heart of the Balkans, it offers a unique platform for talent from Southeast Europe while welcoming works and guests from all over the world. Its programming, both demanding and eclectic, combines world premieres, promising young authors, and tributes to great figures of the seventh art.
After being selected and awarded at Visions du Réel this year, Mladen Bundalo’s short documentary Every Time You Leave, You Are Born Again, produced by La Tangente, joins the Competitive Programme – Documentary Film at the SFF.
The hypnotic purr of a bus engine resonates, accompanied by the rumble of the vehicle’s interior. A voice leads us into an inner monologue. We are on our way to Prijedor in Bosnia, the director’s hometown, and the place of his perpetual departures. But before arriving, we must learn to inhabit departure as a space in which we can grow and be reborn.
Kika, the new film by Alexe Poukine, produced by Wrong Men and represented internationally by Totem Films, continues its festival journey after its world premiere at the Semaine de la Critique. It will be presented in the Kinoscope section.
While pregnant, Kika’s partner dies suddenly. Homeless, broke and heartbroken, she sets her priorities:
1. find money quickly
2. get out of trouble
Dirty panties, dildo belts and neurotic parents will help him. Against all odds.
After its selection at the Berlinale and its success in France, Reflection in a dead diamond by Hélène Cattet & Bruno Forzani will be featured in the Kinoscope Surreal section. The film is produced by Kozak Films and represented internationally by True Colours International Sales.
John D, a septuagenarian living in a luxury hotel on Côte d’Azur, is intrigued by his next door neighbor who reminds him of the wildest hours on the Riviera during the 1960s. At that time, he was a spy in a rapidly developing world full of promise. One day, this neighbor mysteriously disappears... bringing John face to face with his demons: are his former adversaries back to wreak havoc in his idyllic world?
Adam’s Sake by Laura Wandel has also had a remarkable festival run since Cannes. Produced by Dragon Films and Les Films du Fleuve, and sold internationally by Indie Sales, it joins the Adriatic Audience Award section.
Following a court ruling, four-year-old Adam is hospitalised for malnutrition. Lucy, he head nurse, allows Adam’s mother to stay past the court-mandated visiting hours. Complications ensue when the mother, once again, refuses to leave her son’s bedside. For the sake of the child, Lucy will do anything to help this mother in distress.
Also in this section is Maldoror by Fabrice du Welz, produced by Frakas Productions and sold internationally by What The Films.
When two girls go missing, Paul Chartier, an impulsive young police recruit, is assigned to «Maldoror». This secret unit has been set up to monitor a dangerous sex offender. When the operation fails, fed up with the limits of the legal system, Chartier embarks as a solitary hunt to bring down the culprits.
Finally, the animated short film The Mud Under my Window by Violette Delvoye will also be presented at the SFF in the TeenArena section. The film was produced by OZÙ Productions and sold internationally by La Luna Productions.
It’s a gloomy Sunday in the small flat where 14-year-old Emma lives with her mother Hélène. Full of rejection and resentment towards Hélène, Emma projects the image of the ideal mother onto her other mother, who lives far away and whom she sees very little of. But an argument with Hélène forces Emma to question this reassuring duality... As it forces Hélène to face up to her own contradictions. They find themselves thrown into a confrontation of feelings that they are not (or no longer) used to, and where they awkwardly begin to search for a common path.
The 31st Sarajevo Film Festival will take place from August 15 to 22, 2025 in Sarajevo!
films
