20th ANNUAL SOUTH EAST EUROPEAN FILM FESTIVAL (SEEfest) ANNOUNCES FULL PROGRAM LINE-UP
Opening ceremony at the Writers Guild Theatre on April 30th in Beverly Hills
The 20th annual South East European Film Festival #SEEfest (seefilmla.org), co-presented by ELMA, foundation for European Languages and Movies in America, is bringing to Los Angeles U.S. premieres, European talent and an Industry Accelerator with panels and workshops from April 30 – May 7. The festival will showcase over 50 movies from the culturally rich area of East and South-East Europe.
Opening the festival on April 30th with a red carpet gala at the Writers Guild Theater in Beverly Hills (135 S. Doheny Dr, in Beverly Hills) will be the Los Angeles premiere of Bogdan Mureșanu’s Romanian tour-de-force, “THE NEW YEAR THAT NEVER CAME,” which won both the FIPRESCI Award and the award for Best Film in the Orizzonti program in Venice last Fall - a tragicomedy that climaxes with the bang of a firecracker in a highly unlikely pair of hands, effectively kicking off the revolution.
Under the patronage of the honorary chair, Bulgarian-American actress and entertainer Irina Maleeva, the festival highlights stories of resilience and hope, adding a touch of Eastern European flair and humor. Among the competition titles are also: this year's Sundance winner of the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Creative Vision and Audience Award, North Macedonia's DJ Ahmet directed by newcomer Georgi M. Unkovski steals our hearts with a tale of a young shepherd boy's love of music and his first experience with love; Ukrainian Olga Chernykh's layered album of a family life and fractured memories in the borderlands, A Picture to Remember; Serbian-Canadian co-production Cat's Cry, director Sanja Živković's assured sophomore feature about an ordinary man quietly but persistently fighting bureaucratic social services; Bulgarian director Niki Iliev's Wingless, underdog tale of a disabled young man overcoming the odds to triumph in Paralympic competitions; and a powerful documentary examining parenthood, Our Children from Croatian director/cinematographer Silvestar Kolbas, a riveting journey through both sides of adolescence. Also showing is the most-awarded Eastern European film of the season, from Croatian director Nebojša Slijepčević: The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent, which 'does in 13 minutes what many movies fail to do in two hours, creating an authentic sense of dread and moral complexity in a story set entirely on a train that’s been stopped by armed militants in the countryside.' (The Hollywood Reporter). The film won Palme d’Or in Cannes last year, EFA Best European Short in December, French César Award, and Oscar nomination this Spring – in addition to more awards at festivals around the world.
Festival passes and tickets to the Opening Gala are available at SEEfest 2025
Accelerator, industry platform of the festival, is structured as a series of sessions and workshops with visiting and local filmmakers, and Hollywood professionals as mentors. It has become a go-to platform for the independent filmmakers from Eastern Europe and those who live and work in Los Angeles. Two weeks of workshops and sessions with Hollywood industry experts provide insights and feedback, practical tips and a testing ground for pitching and shopping the projects. One of the films in this year’s festival lineup, Bosnian feature When Santa Was A Communist began as a project at the SEEfest Accelerator.
This year 9 projects have been selected for the Accelerator, taking place from April 14 – April 27. All workshops and meetings are provided to filmmakers free of charge.
About the South East European Film Festival (SEEfest): SEEfest presents cinematic and cultural diversity of South and Eastern Europe to American audiences and creates cultural connections through films, artistic and social events. It was founded in 2006 by Vera Mijojlić, long-time film critic and cultural entrepreneur. The films in competition come from 20 countries of South and Eastern Europe.
PROGRAM LINE-UP
FEATURE FILMS 2025
The New Year That Never Came - Romania, Serbia
Director: Bogdan Mureșanu
Winner of the Venice Horizons Prize at the 2024 Venice Film Festival, THE NEW YEAR THAT NEVER CAME re-examines, with inimitable humor, the pivotal events that shook Romania in the last days of December 1989. This is a debut feature for director Bogdan Mureșanu, whose previous shorts films, Half Shaved and The Christmas Gift (European Best Short Film 2018), delighted SEEfest audiences with the same combo of sly humor and empathy, making us laugh and root for his cast of characters as they go through the last days of the dictatorship. Great ensemble piece, with Ravel's Bolero used as the soundtrack to a thrilling effect!
Supermarket - Montenegro
Director: Nemanja Bečanović
A homeless man has been living undisturbed in a supermarket for a year. During the day he is hidden in the ventilation system where he sleeps so that in the evening when the supermarket is closed and everyone has left, he comes out to enjoy benefits of the offer. His peace was disturbed by Robert, a former supermarket security employee who, after being fired, also decided to “move in” in the store: since he worked in the surveillance sector, he knew how to bypass the alarm and surveillance cameras. The homeless man cautiously accepts new acquaintances and solves the problem of loneliness.
Wingless - Bulgaria
Director: Niki Iliev
The movie is inspired by the true life story of Bulgarian paralympic ‘Long jump’ triple world champion Mihail Hristov. The film follows Mihail from the moment he loses both his arms in an electric current incident and makes the life-changing decision of becoming a professional athlete as he goes through the catharsis of deciding to start a new life without arms. As we follow Mihail's personal struggle on screen (both psychological and physical), we witness how he adapts to the situation and how he searches for his true calling, which he eventually finds in sports. He goes through a number of difficulties, both on the sports field and in his personal relationships with his parents, his coach, the girl he falls in love with but most of all, the difficulty of accepting what has happened to him. The script traces Mihail's difficult fate from the accident that left him without arms to becoming a triple long jump world champion, inventor of a new type of prosthetics and a motivational speaker.
Waterdrop - Albania
Director: Robert Budina
In a picturesque Albanian town on the shores of Lake Ohrid, Aida reigns as a tough, successful businesswoman. As city planner, she manages the allocation of lucrative EU subsidies, navigating a corrupt system where her boss pockets large portions of the funds. To maintain her position in this ultra-masculine, patriarchal world, Aida isn't above accepting the occasional bribe herself. Her carefully constructed life crumbles when her teenage son Mark is accused of sexual assault by a classmate. Convinced of his innocence, Aida launches her own investigation, defying both her husband's wishes and police authority. As she delves deeper, Aida encounters a suffocating wall of silence, envy, and deep-seated prejudice. Her relentless pursuit of the truth unearths a tangled web of lies that threatens to unravel everything she's built. Aida soon realizes she must confront the very monster she helped create – a corrupt system she's long been complicit in. Her journey not only challenges her beliefs about her son but forces her to reckon with her own moral compromises. With her family's future and her own redemption at stake, Aida must decide how far she's willing to go and what she's prepared to sacrifice in her quest for justice.
Cat's Cry - Canada, Serbia, Croatia
Director: Sanja Zivković
In a small Serbian town, Milena dreams of fame and independence amidst the allure of a Serbian music channel. Her aspirations and plans for the future are challenged when she gives birth to a baby with a rare genetic condition called “Cat’s Cry”. While her partner Igor and his family refuse to take responsibility for the baby, her father, Stamen, a retired factory worker, urges Milena to leave Igor and return home, offering to raise the child together. Overwhelmed and fearful of her future, Milena disappears. Now Stamen and his new wife, Vera, must fight a flawed Serbian social system for custody of their granddaughter, while Milena struggles to find her own way forward.
Mother Mara - Serbia, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro
Director: Mirjana Karanović
Mara, a successful businesswoman and single mother, suddenly loses her son Nemanja to an untimely death. She clamps up and refuses to show emotions being repulsive and unavailable for any communication on the subject with her friends and family. With buried trauma deep inside of her, she meets Milan, Nemanja’s friend. Milan is someone she intends to use to find out about her son’s life. Emotions they both share toward Nemanja and his sudden death brings them together and initiate physical relationship. Although she wants to keep him at a distance and keep their relationship purely physical, she starts to open up to him. Not knowing what she wants she realizes she enjoys his company. While spending a day together at a floating house on the river when Mara recounts how she found her son dead. Milan starts to see Mara for what she really is, and for the first time, they feel real closeness and tenderness as two human beings. Mirjana Karanović shines as both creator and star of this nuanced drama about a middle-aged woman navigating loss, adapted from elements of a Tanja Šljivar play.' (Film Verdict)
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| DJ AHMET |
DJ Ahmet - North Macedonia, Czech Republic, Serbia, Croatia
Director: Georgi M. Unkovski
Ahmet, a 15-year-old boy from a remote Yuruk village in North Macedonia, finds refuge in music while navigating his father’s expectations, a conservative community, and his first experience with love — a girl already promised to someone else.
DJ AHMET world premiered at Sundance Film Festival in January 2025 and won both the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Creative Vision and the Audience Award in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition.
When Santa Was a Communist - Bosnia and Herzegovina/Croatia/Serbia
Director: Emir Kapetanovic
December 2023. An acting troupe is going on tour with a play about Santa Claus to spread holiday cheer in the small towns of post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina. While the children are delighted, the appearance of Santa Claus reignites old conflicts between the adults. The film was first developed and workshopped at SEEfest Accelerator. It world premiered at Sarajevo Film Festival in August 2024.
DOCUMENTARIES
Nasty - Romania
Directors: Tudor Giurgiu, Cristian Pascariu, Tudor D Popescu
1972 was a turning point in Ilie Nastase’s career: he won his first US Open, while reaching both Wimbledon and Davis Cup finals. Moving back and forth in time and featuring amazing archive footage and exclusive interviews with top athletes, the documentary explores Nastase’s highs and lows, the controversies that surrounded him and the enduring impact he has had on the world of tennis. Lovable, charming and generous, yet temperamental, arrogant and obscene. Mr. Nice’n’Nasty disrupted the old-fashioned etiquette of the sport in the 70s thus becoming its first rebel rockstar.
Grand Prize - Croatia
Director: Anja Koprivšek
In conservative Croatia, ballroom offers a sanctuary for LGBTQIA+ performers. Valentina (29) is a talented voguer and trailblazer of the scene, while young trans man Teo (21) searches for community and acceptance. He finds both in Valentina, who supports him through his transition, while he opens her heart to emotions she has long kept at bay. As their relationship deepens, the young couple begins dreaming of a shared future.
Fakir - Slovakia
Director: Roman Ďuriš
The psychological journey of Dalibor, a young Romani man from a dysfunctional family, is set against the backdrop of a Slovak slum. This gripping, immersive, and cinematic experience delves into the captivating life at the edge of society, unfolding a modern-day Oedipus story. With a stolen childhood, Dalibor yearns for a father figure in a world that brings a constant struggle for one‘s place. „Fakir“ vividly explores the raw pain that arises from abuse and trauma. This pain resides both internally within the family‘s walls and externally, where the circus‘s agonizing nailbed becomes his haven
The Sky Above Zenica - Denmark, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Director: Nanna Frank Møller, Zlatko Pranjić
In Zenica, a medium-sized Bosnian town, frequent occurrences of cancers, childhood diabetes, and respiratory disease have become the norm. Air pollution, in general, is high in Bosnia, but the citizens look with suspicion towards a giant steel and coking plant which occupies a quarter of the city and is the largest employer in the area. They want the factory’s emissions to be monitored, as the environmental permit requires, but nothing happens. In the hardest hit neighborhood, the citizens do not feel heard at all and instead join forces in the citizens organisation Eko Forum to demand change. But like a Greek tragedy, the conflict of interests is bigger than everyone involved. Citizens worry about their health and their livelihood, politicians need to deliver jobs and attract foreign investments to get re-elected, while EBRD (The European Bank of Reconstruction and Development) provides a loan to a new power plant running on the emissions from the coking plant, as well as bicycle lanes that are to help brand Zenica a Green City project. Over 7 years (2017-2024), the film follows Eko Forum’s fight for data and accountability. Through the eyes of the citizens who suffer the consequences, the film gives voice to the voiceless and uncovers the complex mechanisms that stand in the way of common-sense measures and sustainability in the town, like in so many other places around the world.
Another Day - Albania
Director: Eneos Çarka
After many years of performing together in the streets of Italy, the lives of two artists begin to take separate paths. Brought together by their difficult past, Rafael and Besmir have come together in pursuit of their shared dreams to become professional performers. As they enter their thirties, dreams change and conflicts arise. The end of a chapter in their lives is approaching and it threatens their friendship.
Our Children - Croatia
Director: Silvestar Kolbas
Silvestar has three children: Jakov, from his first marriage; Eva, from his second marriage, conceived in vitro; and Ante, adopted from an orphanage when he was 8. Some of the questions the director asks in this film are: How the children affect the feelings and opinions, as well as the relationship between himself and his wife? How does he affect each child? What is his relationship with a particular child, and does he give them all equal amounts of love? Do children change him? Does each of them do it differently? How do the children see him and his wife and how do they see their attitude towards themselves?
Soil and Wings - Serbia
Director: Stefan Malešević
A warm portrait of a Bektashi Muslim matriarch and her hard-working family shows gender equality blooming where least expected – in a rural community of pious Muslims devoted to family and tradition in a muddy tobacco-growing village in the Balkans.
At the Door of the House Who Will Come Knocking - Serbia
Director: Maja Novaković
In the heart of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Emin, in his twilight years, toils alongside his faithful horse. Through bitter cold and harsh conditions, he seeks solace and warmth in nature’s embrace and finds fleeting comfort in sharing his burdens with his only true confidant. A story about man and grief as a universal human experience that can be both isolating and unifying. The film premiered at the Sheffield Festival where the jury awarded DocFest Grand Jury prize to this poignant tale of loneliness exquisitely photographed in winter landscapes of rural Bosnia.
A Picture to Remember - Ukraine
Director: Olga Chernykh
Director Olga Chernykh treats us to an essayistic account of a family's long journey through the war. It chronicles the search for a way to handle terrible and recurring losses experienced by three generations of Ukrainian women - those of the director, her mother, and her grandmother. It's a moving exploration of identity, heritage, and the power of storytelling to connect us in times of upheaval.
