Sisters

DUTCH PREMIERE

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.

After her older sister Isidora (25) attempts suicide following an argument between them, the younger sister Petra (11) spends the day wandering through the hospital, hiding from a social worker. Unable to understand what has happened, she drifts through the unfamiliar corridors, retracing fragments of her relationship with Isidora and their family. When the social worker finally finds her, Petra is forced to confront Isidora.

SCREENINGS

Saturday 7 November 18:30 (New Talents Competition 1)
Director Sara Ećimović will be present for a Q&A

Programme section(s): New Talents Competition
Original title: Sestre | Year: 2026 | Runtime: 21′
Country: Serbia | Language: Serbian | Subtitles: English
Cast: Isidora Poledica, Petra Dimitijević, Feodor Aleksov, Ana Marković, Ljerka Velašević
Director: Sara Ećimović | Production: Ana Marković, Marija Đokić – Faculty of Media and Communications | Screenplay: Sara Ećimović | Cinematography: Nađa Stanišić | Editing: Sara Ećimović

FESTIVALS & AWARDS (SELECTION) 

Sarajevo Film Festival, 2026 – World Premiere

DIRECTOR’S BIO 

Sara Ećimović (2001, Belgrade) graduated in Digital Arts from the Faculty of Media and Communications in Belgrade. She is currently a Master’s student in Film Directing at ENSAV film school in France, and works as a pre-selector for the Beldocs Film Festival. Her graduation film, Sisters, which premiered at the Sarajevo Film Festival, received financial support from the Film Center of Serbia, as well as the Best Pitch Award at Bašta Fest 2025. In 2026, she was selected for FIDCampus.

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

The decision to use a scene from my personal archive in the film stemmed from the need to connect directly with the protagonist. Although I am aware that the viewer cannot know who is in the archival footage, I believe that a strong emotion can be conveyed through this scene, perhaps even amplified by the confusion it causes – that this scene can convey something elusive with its documentary nature. I also aim to use the documentary scene within the fictional form to question the boundary between fiction and documentary and explore how they can function together. Happy memories, like the archival scene in the film, are the ones that confuse Petra, the ones that deceive her. They create an irreconcilable gap in Petra – between what was and what is now. The difference in these images is precisely what Petra tries to reconcile throughout the film – Isidora from the past and Isidora from the present. She tries to free herself from the image of the past in order to accept the current reality.