Sandra Wollner's 'Everytime' Wins Top Prize at 32nd Sarajevo Film Festival
Austrian director Sandra Wollner's Everytime has won the Heart of Sarajevo for Best Narrative Feature Film at the 32nd Sarajevo Film Festival, carrying a cash prize of €16,000. The film, an Austria-Germany production produced by Lixi Frank, Viktoria Stolpe, and David Bohun, had already claimed the Un Certain Regard prize at Cannes earlier this year before adding Sarajevo's top honour (Variety).
The awards were announced at the Festival Award Ceremony on 21 August 2026, per the festival's own submission rules (SFF). The jury — led by SFF President Emily Watson, alongside director Igor Bezinović, actress Sara Klimoska, European Film Academy CEO Matthijs Wouter Knol, and Greek filmmaker Athina Rachel Tsangari — selected winners across narrative, documentary, and short film categories (Deadline).
Ana Urushadze took the Heart of Sarajevo for Best Director for Supporting Role, a Georgia, Estonia, and Türkiye production. The acting honours went to Eva Kostić, named Best Actress for 17 — a North Macedonia, Serbia, and Slovenia production that also picked up the Special Award for Promoting Gender Equality — and Adrian Văncică, named Best Actor for the Romanian film You Don't Belong Here.
The documentary feature prize went to To Hold a Mountain, directed by Biljana Tutorov and Petar Glomazić, a five-country co-production spanning Serbia, France, Montenegro, Slovenia, and Croatia. In the short film categories, Nobody Said Anything, directed by Tamara Todorović, won Best Narrative Short, with a special mention for Porkatal, directed by Sis Gürdal. Best Short Documentary went to Holy Defiance, directed by Karla Jelić of Croatia. Best Student Short was awarded to Unwellness, directed by Réka Pinczés of Hungary.
The Special Jury Award went to The Ferry Flows, directed by Zhora Papoian, a Ukraine and United Kingdom production. Dina Duma's Skateboarding Is Not for Girls, a North Macedonia, Belgium, Slovenia, and Croatia production, received the Special Youth Perspectives Award. A special mention for gender equality went to Don't Ask Me If I Killed, directed by Helena Maksyom, a Romania, Netherlands, Germany, and Ukraine co-production.
Beyond the competitive categories, the festival gave its Honorary Heart of Sarajevo to Bosnian actor Emir Hadžihafizbegović. The Katrin Cartlidge Foundation Award 2026 — given annually to an emerging filmmaker, in memory of the late British actress — went to Lebanese director Lana Daher.
The 32nd edition also hosted the 24th CineLink Industry Days, the festival's marketplace for projects in development from Southeast Europe, where sales agents and buyers begin shaping what will reach screens in the seasons ahead (SFF).
Sarajevo's competition is regional in its eligibility but international in its jury and reach. This year's winners drew on co-production financing from across the Balkans, the Baltics, Western Europe, and beyond — a reminder that a festival prize in a city of under 300,000 people sits at the centre of a chain of decisions made by producers, funders, and programmers stretching across the continent.
