New Talents Competition
The New Talents Competition is back for its seventh edition! Young and emerging filmmakers from our region submitted their graduating, debut or second films to compete for the New Talents Award. This year, for the very first time, a jury will choose the winner rather than the audience. An industry meeting for NTC guests will also take place, creating a space for filmmakers to connect and exchange ideas with industry professionals from the Netherlands.
We are proud to present yet another incredible selection of films, filled with curiosity and concern towards our world. With both risk and responsibility, they attempt to portray their slivers of reality on the big screen for us to experience. These artists question their surroundings and the traditions that shaped them; through their cameras, they try to bridge generations, both past and future, leaning towards intimacy and understanding.
A record number of submissions was received this year, making the selection process particularly difficult once again. Seven films were selected from Hungary, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Serbia and Slovakia.
In Dying of the Young Deer, we follow the protagonist as she carries a quilt filled with goose feathers from one village to the next, from one life to the next. Feelings of hope, joy and fear are beautifully interwoven in this formally innovative film. An unusual visitor makes seventy-year-old Irena look at her neighbour, and eventually at herself, differently in the tender Living Among the Stars. While doctors tend to her older sister, Petra wanders the hallways of the hospital, not quite knowing whether to feel scared, guilty or anything at all. Sisters gives a glimpse into the complicated love between two young siblings.
When the Chair Fell Into the Void weaves testimonies of exile and disconnection using voice, dance and urban landscapes. In 70% Selfless, the filmmaker achieves a particular kind of intimacy and humour while exploring questions of self-worth, discipline and dedication that are not often seen in documentaries. “Where can we find anchors in a world full of uncertainty?” is the ever-so-complicated question that runs through Problems With the Entire World, in which a young climate-activist couple tries to navigate a new pregnancy together as our dark future looms over them. The Visit quite literally shows a granddaughter visiting her grandmother, as their conversation transcends time and place, and makes us wonder about what really matters in this life.
Stefan Pavlović, film programmer
BLOCK 1
- 70% Selfless
A spiritual journey of an aspiring monk, who grapples with his love for sweets. - Sisters
As doctors fight to save her older sister’s life following a suicide attempt, eleven-year-old Petra wanders through the hospital, haunted by the argument that preceded it and struggling to make sense of her own guilt. - The Visit
In a Moldovan village, a girl tries to navigate her relationship with her grandmother who insists that she should get married and settle down. - When the Chair Fell Into the Void
A poetic documentary where the experience of migration and the search for identity is explored through dance.
SCREENINGS
Saturday 7 November 18:30
Directors Elena Siretanu, Julia Kushnarenko and Sara Ećimović will be present for a Q&A
BLOCK 2
- Dying of the Young Deer
Helka leaves her family home and walks through the village to her husband’s house. - Living Among the Stars
Seventy-year-old Irena’s life changes when a famous TV presenter in a sequin suit shows up at her door. - Problems of the Entire World
Can the child ever be happy?
SCREENINGS
Sunday 8 November 14:30
Producer Olek Złotorawski and editor Petr Chromčák will be present for a Q&A
NEW TALENTS COMPETITION JURY
Veton Nurkollari (1962) is a curator and cultural practitioner working primarily with documentary and short-form cinema. As Artistic Director and co-founder of DokuFest in Kosovo, he has been responsible for the festival’s artistic and curatorial direction, contributing to its position as an important platform for contemporary non-fiction cinema in Southeastern Europe, while developing long-term curatorial frameworks that support innovative non-fiction storytelling and emerging voices. Nurkollari regularly curates film programmes, serves on international festival juries, and mentors emerging documentary filmmakers through initiatives including Kosovo-based “Future Is Here” and “Heritage Space”. He is a member of the European Film Academy and the European Cultural Parliament.
Eliane Esther Bots (1986) is a Dutch filmmaker working primarily in documentary, extending her practice into performance, audio works, and publications. Her work explores the “narrating self” – how narrative position and story shift when people face disruptive, life-changing events. Her films have screened at IDFA, Locarno Film Festival, Berlinale, Cinéma du Réel, and New York Film Festival, among others. Her latest film, In Flow of Words, won the Pardi di Domani Best Director – BONALUMI Engineering Award at Locarno and was nominated for a European Film Award. Eliane taught Moving Image at HKU and now teaches at the Netherlands Film Academy. She has programmed for Go Short, developed IDFA’s 2023 festival campaign concept, and served on IDFA’s 2021 short documentary jury. She recently founded DOC Editions, a publishing initiative for non-fiction filmmakers.
