The Telemach Youth Film Festival Sarajevo has unveiled both competition short film selections for its 17th edition, which will take place from July 18 to 25 this year.
The OFF Generation Shorts selection this year brings nine carefully chosen titles, including:
“The Eggregores’ Theory” by David Rumsey (Italy), “Fraria” by Alberto Diana (Italy), “The Boy With The Skin” by Simon Panay (France), “Mum” by Julia Patey (Germany), “La Macchina Di Renato” by Andrea Orsenigo (Italy), “Una Faccia Da Cinema” by Alberto Salvucci (Italy), “Moustache” by Idriss Nsangou Nabil (Netherlands), “Boys” by Marti Domingo (Italy), “Pocket Money” by Mateo Sanders (Austria), “Majoneze” by Giulia Grandinetti (Italy), and “More Opsena” by Stanko Pajić (Serbia).
It is important to highlight that Telemach OFF, in this category, presents outstanding young authors with notable achievements at leading European short film festivals. Among them this year is director Giulia Grandinetti, whose film “Tria” won the Best Short Film Award in 2023. The OFF Generation Shorts program will be screened in two sessions – July 23 and 24 at the Youth Theatre.
The OFF Shorts presented by Canon selection, which showcases emerging voices in the world of short film, will this year feature 19 titles, including:
“Someone Special” by Alice Cervat (France), “We The Monkeys” by Clarence Larrivière (France), “Which Way Should My Chimney Face” by Dominik M. Rozsavolgyi (Hungary), “Mak” by Luka Šamadan (Croatia), “Three Women Named Svetlana” by Natalia Boorsma (Netherlands/Serbia), “Good Luck, Sara!” by Isidora Ratković (Bosnia and Herzegovina), “Wolves” by Ecre Begum Bayrak (Turkey), “Blackout” by Iva Gašparević and Bartul Mušura (Croatia), “The Last Day of the Bear” by Antonio Donato (Italy), “Non Puoi Capirmi” by Christian Dei (Italy), “Cats” by Danilo Stanimirović (Switzerland/Serbia), “In Warm Waters” by Ana Niebert (Germany), “9 Days in August” by Ella Knorz (Germany), “By the Window” by Aglaja Filipović (Serbia), “Tomorrow Is a New Day” by Tvrtko Bubalo (Bosnia and Herzegovina), “The Summer We Left Behind” by Mia Bujan and Dorotea Ilečić Sever (Croatia), “154” by Riccardo Copreni (Italy), “Shut Up and Dance” by Cheik Ahmed Thani (France), and “Funcut” by Mario Gaćina (Croatia).
OFF Shorts presented by Canon is one of the oldest and most significant sections of the Youth Film Festival Sarajevo, especially considering that many young European filmmakers have screened their debut works in this very selection. Many of them return to the Festival year after year with new projects. This year again, Telemach OFF will host the teams of all selected films, who will be introduced to the audience and Festival guests.
The importance of this selection—as well as the Festival itself—is further affirmed by ongoing collaborations with renowned production and distribution companies such as Playbox Shorts (Croatia), Premiere Film, and Lights On(Italy), as well as with the filmmakers directly.
OFF Shorts will be screened in four program slots at the Youth Theatre, on July 19, 20, 21, and 22.
The Festival will take place from July 18 to 25, 2025. The full program and tickets will be gradually made available starting July 3.
