Variety Reviews 'Small Things': Zvonimir Jurić's Adriatic Chamber Drama Heads to Sarajevo
Variety has published its review of "Small Things," the Croatian chamber drama from director Zvonimir Jurić, on 24 August 2026 (Variety). The film is headed for its international premiere in the competition programme at the 32nd Sarajevo Film Festival (Variety).
"Small Things" — Croatian title Male stvari — is an 80-minute drama set on a sombre island in the Adriatic, not far from the coastal town of Split. The story follows sisters gathered during a winter weekend. Jurić co-wrote the screenplay with Jurica Pavičić, adapting a short story by Pavičić. The cast brings together actors from across the region: Izudin Bajrović, Ivana Roščić, Marija Skaričić, and Juraj Lerotić. Marko Brdar served as cinematographer (Variety; Cineuropa).
The film is a co-production of Croatia, Slovenia, and Serbia (Variety). It had its world premiere at the Pula Film Festival on 11 July 2026 (Cineuropa).
Sarajevo's competition slot carries particular weight for this creative team. Jurić last competed at the festival twelve years ago with his feature "The Reaper." Lerotić, who appears in the cast of "Small Things," won Sarajevo's top prize in 2022 with his own film "Safe Place" (Variety).
That history gives the Sarajevo selection a quiet resonance. The festival — founded in the aftermath of the siege of Sarajevo and now one of the premier film events in Southeast Europe — has long served as a launchpad for regional cinema, and its competition programme is where many of the area's most discussed titles first meet international critics and buyers.
For Jurić, the Sarajevo premiere ends a dozen-year absence from the festival's competitive lineup. For Lerotić, it marks a return to a platform that handed him the festival's highest honour just four years ago. And for the film itself, an 80-minute chamber piece with a regional cast and a three-country production structure, the competition slot places it squarely before the festival juries and acquisition executives who track Sarajevo each August.
