Seven outstanding documentaries from Central and Eastern Europe, planned for theatrical release during the upcoming 12 months – the Docu Talents from the East 2025 – were presented last night as part of CineLink Industry Days at the Sarajevo Film Festival.
Projects from the Armenia, Azerbaijan, Czech Republic, Croatia, Georgia, Poland, and Ukraine made it to the final selection of Docu Talents from the East 2025.
The Docu Talent Award was granted to the most promising project. The international jury decided to give award to A Song Without Home by Georgian director Rati Tsiteladze, produced by Olga Slusareva.
The jury gave the following statement:
A raw film with real-world stakes – the imminent personal risk to both the filmmakers and subject makes this a worthy recipient of the Docu Talent Award. Distinctive visuals will entice the audience; who will then find a heartfelt portrayal of a life lived with honesty, despite the danger posed to the protagonist. With our solidarity with the independent filmmaking community of Georgia, the Docu Talent Award for the most promising project goes to A Song Without Home.
The 25,000 EUR in-kind Avanpost Post-production Award was awarded to Armenian-Swiss co-production Flying Cows by directors Vahagn Khachatryan and Aren Malakyan, produced by Vahagn Khachatryana and Irene Muñoz Martin.
The jury gave the following statement:
This engaging, emotive project promises an animal’s journey that is scary, surreal and troubling. Flying Cows polarised the jury, eliciting strong responses from all of us; what we agreed on is that it will continue to do so on its journey to audiences. There is a strong sense of scene and narrative, as the animal experience is set amongst a divisive political context. The Avanpost Post-production Award, with €25,000 in post-production services, goes to Flying Cows.
The 3,000 EUR in-kind DAFilms.com Distribution Award was awarded to Land of Fire by Czech director Nikola Klinger, produced by Kristina Husová. The award covers international VOD release on DAFilms.com (including Americas, Europe, Asia) for two years.
The jury gave the following statement:
A vibrant cast of characters deserve a broad audience. Land Of Fire is therefore a deserving recipient of this award, as it takes in a dark North American story with an original European perspective. The combination of the pain of the story and the harshness of the surroundings make for a strong watch. The DAFilms.com Distribution Award, with €3,000 in-kind for an international release on DAFilms.com, goes to Land Of Fire.
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 had world and international premieres at major film festivals including in Cannes, Berlin, Locarno, Rotterdam and Sundance.
“This year's Docu Talents from the East, which traditionally focuses on notable films from Central and Eastern Europe, has a special focus on the countries of the South Caucasus. Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan share a common history and culture but have different languages, political systems, and religions. The selected projects showcase the region's strong cinematic tradition and its ability to transform the historical tensions of long-lasting armed conflicts into universal questions about human identity," says Marek Hovorka, director of the Ji.hlava IDFF.
Emerging Producers 2026 were announced
During the event, the representatives of the Ji.hlava IDFF also revealed the names of the Emerging Producers 2026. This unique programme aims at promoting talented European documentary film producers and provides them with a range of networking, educational and promotional support throughout the year. 17 European producers will be accompanied by a producer from Ethiopia, which is the guest country of the 2026 Emerging Producers programme. The Emerging Producers programme consists of three workshops – taking place in Jihlava in October 2025, during the Berlinale in February 2026, the venue of the third session in spring 2026 will still be announced.
EMERGING PRODUCERS 2026
Dominic Spitaler / Austria
Maarten D'Hollander / Belgium
Pavla Klimešová / Czech Republic
Julie Meigniez / France
Evi Stamou / Greece
Anna Tóth / Hungary
Angelo Rocco Troiano / Italy
Ringailė Leščinskienė / Lithuania
Yann Tonnar / Luxembourg
Ivana Shekutkoska / North Macedonia
Anita Vedå / Norway
Maria Krauss / Poland
Bernardo Lopes / Portugal
Tomáš Gič / Slovakia
Caroline Drab / Sweden
Azra Djurdjevic / Switzerland
Eugene Rachkovsky / Ukraine
Nahusenay Dereje / Guest country Ethiopia
Recipients of Ji.hlava /JB Films Support 2025. 54,000 EUR distributed to Czech and Slovak documentary projects
The Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival and Czech entrepreneur Jan Barta continue to support outstanding auteur filmmaking from Central and Eastern Europe through the Ji.hlava / JB Films support scheme. Three outstanding projects were selected for support in 2025, each with 18,000 EUR:
Playtopia
Countries: Czech Republic, Romania
Film length: 80 min
Director: Bára Jíchová Tyson
Producers: Alice Tabery, Kristina Husová
Co-producers: Radu Stancu, Cristina Hanes
Genre: hybrid documentary
Valley of the Night
Countries: Czech Republic, USA
Film length: 80 min
Director: Lynne Siefert
Producers: Matej Sotník (Somatic Films), Lynne Siefert (Mousehaus)
Genre: hybrid documentary
World of Walls
Countryies: Slovakia, Czech Republic, Belgium, France, South Africa
Film length: 80 min
Director: Lucia Kašová
Producer: Matej Sotník (guča films)
Co-producers: CLAW Films, Harald House BV, FACTSTORY, ARTE GEIE, Czech Television, The Audio Room
Genre: hybrid documentary
The Ji.hlava IDFF representatives announced also the industry guest country of its upcoming edition (October 24 – November 2), which will be Croatia. The official delegation at Ji.hlava Industry 2025 will be Austria.
