Sixty-three emerging filmmakers from 17 countries have been invited to the 19th edition of Talents Sarajevo, the Sarajevo Film Festival’s annual training programme, which will run 16–21 August alongside the festival’s 31st outing. They were selected from 560 applications, with Greece, Romania and Turkey providing the largest pools of candidates.
This year’s theme, “Filming as Caring,” places mental-health awareness at the heart of every session, and several preparatory seminars begin online in early August to give participants more time with mentors before arriving in Sarajevo.
The week-long curriculum spans eight modules—Directors Summit, Producers Summit, Acting Studio, Camera Studio, Editing Studio, Script Station, Talent Press and Pack & Pitch—combining masterclasses, peer workshops and curated screenings.
Two additions freshen the format: an Innovation Forum that explores IP management, gaming and cross-media storytelling, and a Writers’ Room expansion of Script Station aimed at the region’s growing appetite for serial content. Each strand is steered by international mentors including Canneseries winner Isaure Pisani-Ferry, co-creator of Becoming Karl Lagerfeld.
Talents Sarajevo continues to operate in partnership with Berlinale Talents, reinforcing a cross-border network that has supported more than 1,300 alumni since 2006. This year the organisers have joined forces with ERIAC Serbia to fund two fellowships for Roma creatives, covering travel, accommodation and festival accreditation.
Beyond the classroom, participants will pitch works-in-progress during the Pack & Pitch showcase to a CineLink jury that awards two prizes. Networking events are embedded in the wider festival, which expects 50 competition titles and juries chaired by Ukrainian filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa. With mental health, cross-media strategy and equitable access on the agenda, the 2025 intake is set to leave Sarajevo with both creative momentum and a broadened professional support network.
