CineLink Unveils 24 Projects, Critics' Week Partnership
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- CineLink finalized its 2026 industry lineup at 16 feature projects and 8 drama series projects, with women directing or co-directing 9 of the 16 Co-Production Market titles; the festival said seven of the 16 are debuts.
- The Kosovo Cinematography Center will give a new €10,000 cash award to one Co-Production Market selection, presented at the CineLink Awards Ceremony on August 20.
- Next Step Studio, a new exchange with Cannes' Critics' Week, will hand one CineLink director a slot in an international co-writing/co-directing program whose short films premiere at Cannes — its debut Indonesia edition's four films premiering May 2026.
- Two Bulgarian filmmakers return: Nadejda Koseva with "Fleur de Mar," following her Locarno-premiering "The Trap," and Ralitza Petrova with "Peace," whose Locarno Golden Leopard winner "Godless" was developed at CineLink 2015.
- Two Doha Film Institute guest projects join via an existing partnership: Qatari duo Aisha Al-Jaidah and Kholood Al-Ali's "The Peacock Queen" and Iraqi director Ahmed Yassin Al-Darraji's "Madness and Honey Days," whose "Hanging Gardens" was Iraq's Oscar submission.
- CineLink+ will preview a new project from Serbian director Goran Marković, whose "National Class," "Variola Vera" and "Special Education" are described as defining works of Yugoslav cinema.
- CineLink Industry Days runs August 15-20, 2026, alongside the Sarajevo Film Festival's August 14-21 run.
Why it matters: Per CineLink head Asja Krsmanović, 'development financing is increasingly difficult to secure' — making the new €10,000 Kosovo Cinematography Center award and the Cannes Critics' Week co-directing slot real injection points for Balkan-region debut filmmakers angling for the international festival circuit, not just another market roster.
