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.
Nominees for Cinema Without Borders’ Bridging the Borders award sponsored by 360 MEDIA are:
DJ Ahmet -North Macedonia, Czech Republic, Serbia, Croatia -By 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.
Georgi M. Unkovski is a Macedonian award-winning writer and director, whose work has been featured at over 200 international film festivals, HBO and MTV. Born in 1988 in New York, Unkovski graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology -Eastman’s School of Photography, in the field of the Fine Arts. Shortly after his graduation, he moved to the Czech Republic to pursue his passion for filmmaking and enrolled in the post-graduate program at the renowned University of FAMU in Prague. Since his studies, Unkovski lives in Skopje, Macedonia, and works as a full-time director for one of the leading advertising agencies in the country – FUTURA 2/2 and Cinema Futura – a local production house dedicated to making films. Unkovski is a Sundance Alumni and his last short film STICKER has won over 50 International Awards. DJ AHMET is his first feature film.
Supermarket: Montenegro – By 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 the 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.
Nemanja Bečanović (1977) is a film director and producer. He graduated in Film and Television Directing from the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Cetinje. His debut feature film, The Ascent (Posljednje poglavlje), premiered in 2011 in the main program of the Sarajevo Film Festival. Promoted at the Raindance Festival as a film with the “most shocking ending since Se7en,” it was declared the third-best European film of the year by Cineuropa’s editor-in-chief, Domenico La Porta. In 2023, he completed his second feature film, Supermarket which premiered in Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in 2023.
Waterdrop: Albania – By 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.
Robert Budina was born in Korca, Albania, and works as an independent film producer, director, and scriptwriter. He graduated from the Academy of Arts, Theater Directing. He has directed and written several theater plays. Together with Sabina Kodra formed ERAFILM Company in 2001. Robert has also filed numerous roles as producer, executive producer, and supervisor production in various international co-productions. Robert directed his first short film “LULEBORË”, participating in 40 film festivals all over the world and collecting several awards such as Best Film in Algarve, Portugal, and Best Male Actor in Tanger, Morocco. “AGON” the first feature film of Robert Budina, was screened in more than 30 festivals worldwide and was awarded as Best Script in SEE a PARIS. “Agon” was the Albanian Nomination for the OSCARS in 2014. Robert Budina’s second feature film, “A SHELTER AMONG THE CLOUDS”, had has the world premiere in Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in Estonia, in the Official Competition, November 2018. After the film participated in many other festivals worldwide collecting awards such as Global Visual Award in Cinequest Film & Creativity Film Festival in San Jose, Usa, Best Film in La Valletta International Film Festival, Malta, Best Film, Best Actor, Best Actress in PriFilmFest, Kosovo, Best Music and Sound Mix in the Mediterranean Film Festival, Valencia, Spain. “A SHELTER AMONG THE CLOUDS”, is the first Albanian speaking language film distributed in German territories for more than six months, collecting around 20.000 admissions, Albania 5.000 admissions, broadcasted in Digitalb Albania, Albanian National Tv RTSH and HBO. The TV series THE SQUARE OF POWER written and directed by Robert Budina in 2022 was broadcast in the biggest Albanian National Tv KLAN, having an average audience tracking of 35 %. Robert Budina is currently running in the festivals with his third feature WATERDROP and developing a new mini tv series with ACE Series Special “THE INVISIBLE SUCCESSOR”.
When Santa Was a Communist: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia – By 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.
Emir Kapetanovic is a Bosnian award-winning director based in Los Angeles. He was born in 1988 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. As a teenager, he strived in the world of film, music, and sports, playing ice hockey for the national team, and producing rap music and music videos. He graduated in Film and Theatre directing and holds an MA degree in Directing. He created socially engaged films, plays, cabarets, web series, hip-hop videos, street performances, comedy, and stand-up comedy shows that have received national, and international, acclaim. His niche is comedy which seeks to engage people with social justice issues. When Santa Was a Communist is his first feature film
Wingless: Bulgaria – By 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 become a triple long jump world champion, inventor of a new type of prosthetics, and a motivational speaker.
Nikolay Boikov Iliev /Niki Iliev/ was born in 1981 in Sofia, Bulgaria. In 2011 received a Master’s degree in film directing and acting from the New Bulgarian University. He made his professional debut as a director with the movie “The Foreigner” in 2012. It became the most-watched and highest-grossing Bulgarian film for 2012 and 2013 in cinemas, TV and VOD. In 2013 he directed 12 episodes of the sitcom “House Arrest” on bTV. His second feature film, “Living Legends” was released in February 2014 and instantly took first place at the Bulgarian box office. “Living Legends” became the most-watched and highest-grossing Bulgarian film for 2014 and 2015 in cinemas, TV, and VOD. In 2016/2017 he directs 25 episodes of Bulgarian TV drama series Dear Heirs for primetime bTV. In 2017/2018 he directs 10 episodes for the primetime comedy series “Policemen out of Town” for Nova TV. In 2018 he directed the first and the second seasons of the mystery drama web series “The Closet”. He also plays the part of Damyan. All She Wrote 2018 is his third feature film as a director/writer/producer. The movie wins awards at film festivals in Paris, New York, and Rome. In 2019 he directs and acted in the third season of “The Closet”. “Reunion” is his fourth feature film and it was the highest-grossing Bulgarian film for 2019. In 2020 and 2021 he directs 3 seasons of the crime drama “Brothers” for NOVA TV. In that period he performs as an actor in the following movies: “Ashes Over the Sun”, “Yatagan”, “Chess”, “Botev”. In 2023 he was one of the directors of the TV series “With River at Heart” and “Walk of Fame” for Nova TV. His fifth feature as director/writer/producer/actor, “Reunion Part 2” was released in theaters in February 2022. “Wingless” is his sixth feature film.
CWB’s Bridging The Borders Award Jury Members:
KEELY BADGER
Keely Badger is the Founder and Chief Marketing Officer of 360 MEDIA Consulting, a woman-led digital marketing agency dedicated to storytellers and social impact brands. With over 15 years of experience, she has developed high-performance multimedia campaigns for influential clients, including The Sundance Institute and Human Rights Watch. Passionate about the transformative power of documentary film, Keely uses social impact cinema to inspire meaningful action and community engagement. Her strategic approach has empowered independent filmmakers to drive social change globally. 360 MEDIA is also proud to sponsor the 2024 Bridging The Borders Award.
Chale Nafus was born in Dallas during World War II, he attended public schools, spent summers on his sister’s ranch in Comanche County in the 1950s, learned Spanish from schoolmates, and dreamed of getting out of Dallas. After getting through freshman year at SMU, he worked at Texas Instruments before realizing he really needed a college education. After attending the University of Texas at Arlington (B.A., English), La Universidad Autónoma de México, and UT Austin (M.A., English/RTF), he began a long college teaching career at Texas Southmost College (Brownsville), La Universidad de Puerto Rico at Mayaguez, Borough of Manhattan Community College, Kingsborough Community College (Brooklyn), and finally Austin Community College (1973-1998). At the latter, he founded the Department of Radio-TV-Film, taught classes in film studies, and for seven years served as Chair of Humanities (Northridge Campus). Retiring in 1998, Chale spent 4 years traveling and writing before joining the staff of Austin Film Society as Director of Programming (2002-2015). He is now totally retired and happily serving on the boards of Austin Film Society and OUTsider Fest as well as the advisory committees of IndieMeme (South Asian film organization) and Cine Las Americas.
Susan Morgan Cooper
Susan Morgan Cooper is an accomplished Director, Producer, and Writer known for her impactful documentaries. Her notable works include “To the Moon and Back” (2016), “Mulberry Child” (2012), and “An Unlikely Weapon” (2008), receiving critical acclaim for their storytelling. She also directed “Heroes And Sheroes” (2000) and “Mirjana: One Girl’s Journey” (1997). Her narrative projects include the short film “Stringers” (1990) and the feature “Hadley’s Rebellion” (1989). With a career spanning over three decades, Cooper continues to create compelling content that resonates with audiences.
Vladek Juszkiewicz
Vladek Juszkiewicz was born in Glogow, Poland, and graduated from Szczecin Technical University with a degree in Engineering. He managed The Szczecin Technical University Choir and traveled to 18 countries, including the U.S. After managing Polish singer Maryla Rodowicz in Warsaw, he moved to the U.S. and worked on 11 films with Paul Leder. In 1999, he founded the Polish Film Festival Los Angeles and served as director till 2019, now acting as the Festival’s Programmer. Honored with the Cavalier & Officer Cross and Gloria Artis for promoting Polish culture.
Granaz Moussavi
Granaz Moussavi was born in Tehran and began her career as a literary critic and book review writer at 17. Her poetry, first published at 16, is translated into nine languages and has been featured in international festivals and symposiums. Her second book, “Barefoot Till Morning,” won the best poetry book of the year in Iran (2001) and has four editions. Granaz holds advanced degrees in drama, screen studies, and film editing. Her films, “My Tehran For Sale” and “When Pomegranates Howl,” have earned international acclaim and awards.
Abbas Yari
Abbas Yari is an Iranian journalist and film critic born in Arak in 1951. He graduated from the School of Television and Cinema in 1975. Yari began his journalism career at Sobh e Emrouz, Tehran Mosavvar, and Kayhan, before co-founding Film magazine, which he directed until 2021. He launched Film Emrooz in 2021 after Massoud Mehrabi’s passing. Mr. Yari currently is Editor in Chief of Cinemaye Bedoon Marz a new Iranian online film publication. Yari also helped establish the Iranian cinema museum in Tehran and the foundation of art critics and writers about Iranian cinema. He is also notable for organizing cultural events in Arak.
