Behind Open Doors
Director: Nikola Kuprešanin
Producer: Ena Rahelić
Genre: Documentary
Countries: Croatia, Serbia, Spain
Runtime: 80’
Estimated date of premiere: June 2026
Synopsis: Behind Open Doors is an autobiographical documentary that demystifies psychotherapy through the deeply personal lens of Nikola Kuprešanin, a Croatian filmmaker. Years after completing therapy, Nikola reunites with his former therapist Milena, to dissect their once-confidential relationship. Their candid conversations — filmed in Belgrade’s parks and cafés — reveal the turbulence of Nikola’s journey: crippling anxiety, resistance to treatment, and fears that therapy would "steal" his creativity (inspired by David Bowie’s scepticism).
Parallelly, the film explores Nikola’s marriage to Ana, a psychotherapist whose profession amplifies their domestic challenges. Ana’s insistence that Nikola try therapy clashes with his stoic upbringing, exposing generational trauma rooted in his Dalmatian family’s aversion to vulnerability. As Nikola reluctantly begins sessions with Milena, the documentary juxtaposes his breakthroughs - confronting career doubts, embracing screenwriting with Ana’s struggles to separate her clinical expertise from their private life.
Visually, past therapy sessions and pivotal memories are reconstructed not through reenactments, but via stylized studio photography and abstract compositions. Family archives and Skype calls illustrate Nikola’s evolution—from insomnia-riddled nights to winning award for his writing (TV series “Kotlina”).
Behind Open Doors dismantles taboos around mental health, arguing that therapy isn’t just for crisis but for anyone seeking growth. It’s a raw testament to how vulnerability fuels creativity and connection, set against the backdrop of the Balkans’ evolving mental-health landscape.
Production Company: Ena Rahelić
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Closing Time
Director: Sara Jurinčić
Producers: Dana Budisavljevic, Sara Jurinčić
Genre: Hybrid Documentary
Country: Croatia
Runtime: 20’
Estimated date of premiere: January 2027
Synopsis: In the dim flicker of the night lights, we step into the immigrant workers’ world. A vulnerable space in between belonging, shown through a brief time gap of closing time of the street shops. Forgetting that they are still exposed, trapped in the neon night frames, touchingly unprotected from the outside gaze. The most honest moment of the day, with all the hours of hard physical work visible, while workers perform the closing operations. Reality starts to glitch, sides of the window switch and the inequality of immigrant workers comes to light.
Production Company: Dana Budisavljevic, Sara Jurinčić
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Olimbi - Mother Courage
Directors: Karlo Mlinar
Producers: Filip Filković, Margareta Brodić
Genre: Documentary
Country: Croatia
Runtime: 80’
Estimated date of premiere: October 2026
Synopsis: Olimbi Hoxhaj – Mother Courage is a documentary that follows the journey of Olimbi Hoxhaj, an Albanian mother who turned personal tragedy into a fight against stigma, discrimination, and systemic barriers. After the death of her husband in 2003, Olimbi discovers that she and three of her four children are HIV-positive in a country where treatment was unavailable. Confronting widespread prejudice and institutional neglect, she embarks on a determined struggle for survival, ultimately changing history by securing HIV treatment in Albania, establishing an organization to support HIV/AIDS patients, and advocating for protective anti-discrimination laws. The film interweaves observational footage, archival materials, and a theatrical reconstruction of Olimbi’s life. It follows the director and the main actress as they travel to Tirana for the premiere of the play Mother Courage, a performance based on Olimbi’s experiences. When the theatre doors open in Tirana, the narrative shifts back in time to rehearsals in Zagreb, where actors reconstruct key moments from her past—her husband Victor’s illness and death, and the discovery of her children’s diagnosis. Olimbi and her family actively participates in these rehearsals, reflecting on her journey and sharing the emotions tied to her struggle. Archival videos and photographs are woven throughout, deepening the exploration of memory and resilience. The film also pays homage to the AIDS Memorial Quilt, honoring Victor, who died of AIDS in 2003. The narrative unfolds as a patchwork of observations, archival material, and live reconstructions that blend performance and reality, transforming Olimbi’s personal battle into a universal message of courage, activism, and change.
The documentary follows two premieres—one in Zagreb on World AIDS Day and the second on Human Rights Day in Tirana. It concludes with a final celebration: actors invite the audience to the stage as they reconstruct the birthday of Gilbert and Geldon, Olimbi’s twins, recalling the moment when they were reintegrated into school. This celebration brings together her family, the entire film crew, and the audience in a collective tribute to resilience and the strength of community.
Production Company: Filip Filković, Margareta Brodić
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The center of the world
Director: Marko Šantić
Producers: Jure Bušić, Danijel Hočevar
Genre: Documentary
Country: Croatia
Runtime: 70’
Estimated date of premiere: November 2026
Synopsis: In the middle of Dalmatia proudly stands the city of Split, one of the main European destinations for young partygoers. During the tourist season, the film follows Blanša (43) and her nephew Doni (10) who live in the old city center and whose life is limited because of the tourists.
Blanša wants to stay in her home and fight, her only weapon is her mobile phone. From her window she starts to record vulgarity and night chaos that tourists produce hoping to be heard. The real question that arises is will the modern tourism swallow their way of life or will Blanša succeed in her fight?
Production Company: Jure Bušić
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The Three of Us
Director: Lucija Brkić
Producers: Lucija Perić, Roza Medvešek
Genre: Documentary
Country: Croatia
Runtime: 70’
Estimated date of premiere: February 2026
Synopsis: Over the years, my mother has started to resemble her own mother more and more. That quiet realisation, paired with the fear of emotional distance and loss, became the driving force behind this film—a personal journey to understand what is passed between generations of women.
The narrative is framed through letters to my late grandmother, which form the emotional and structural core of the film. Their tone is tender but searching, revealing a desire to reconnect with something irreversibly lost. These voice-overs are interwoven with intimate conversations between my mother and me, as well as slow, quiet images of the places we once called home.
The story begins in Pula, where I was born and where my mother settled after leaving Bosnia. Her daily rituals—cooking, cleaning—evoke memories of her own mother. These small acts reveal how emotional memory is often stored in gesture rather than words. Gradually, the story shifts to Deževice, a once-vibrant village in central Bosnia now nearly abandoned. The landscape holds its own silence: houses still bear the marks of war, traditions continue in fragments, and gender roles remain tied to an earlier time.
As I try to understand this place, and the people it once held, the conversation with my mother grows more layered—moving from memories of her mother to the fractures in our own relationship. A return to Deževice, this time together, allows us both to face what remains unspoken. My mother finds peace under her apple tree, in front of the house she still calls home. In her stillness, I begin to see her differently.
The Three of Us is not built on dramatic events, but on inner movement—on unspoken tension, generational echo, and the effort to listen more closely to what is left unsaid.
Production Company: Lucija Perić
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