Seven outstanding documentaries from Central and Eastern Europe, planned for theatrical release during the upcoming 12 months – the Docu Talents from the East 2026 – were presented last night as part of CineLink Industry Days at the Sarajevo Film Festival.
Projects from Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Ukraine made it to the final selection of Docu Talents from the East 2026.
The Docu Talent Award was granted to the most promising project. The international jury decided to give the award to Luxembourg–Slovak co–production Ora et Labora by the director Dzhovani Gospodinov, produced by Bady Minck and Alexander Dumreicher-Ivanceanu. The award includes the invitation to the Ji.hlava New Visions Market 2026.
Jury statement:
For its exceptional access, humanity and irreverence, and the meaning of time in a timeless place, we award this very personal and unique take on generations and belief, the Docu Talent Award for the most promising project goes to Ora et Labora.
The 3,000 EUR in-kind DAFilms.com VoD distribution Award was awarded to Slovak project Retuning directed by Sára Prokopová and produced by Tereza Tokárová. The award covers international VOD release on DAFilms.com (including the Americas, Europe, and Asia) for two years.
Jury statement:
For an extremely timely film that is charged with a committed energy of resistance to retuning truth and freedom of expression in the media space, the DAFilms.com VoD distribution Award, with €3,000 in-kind for an international release on DAFilms.com, goes to Retuning.
Since 2005, Docu Talents curated by the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival, has been a launch pad for a number of documentaries by both renowned and emerging directors such as Laila Pakalniņa, Vladimir Mansky, Bartek Konopka, Piotr Stasik, Peter Kerekes, Dmitrii Kalashnikov and Helena Třeštíková. Films presented at Docu Talents in the past have had world and international premieres at major film festivals including Cannes, Berlin, Locarno, Rotterdam and Sundance.
“It remains true that if you’re a filmmaker from Eastern Europe, your film is much less likely to be screened at festivals in Western Europe than those of your Western European colleagues. That’s why, for the past twenty-two years, we’ve been showcasing selected films as part of Docu Talents, drawing attention to them and helping facilitate their festival distribution”, says Marek Hovorka, director of the Ji.hlava IDFF.
“What makes Docu Talents from the East so exciting each year is the remarkable diversity of projects it brings together – different cinematic approaches, perspectives and stories, all reflecting the richness of documentary filmmaking in the region”, adds Jarmila Outratová, head of Ji.hlava Industry.
