CineLink Drama, a flagship program of the CineLink Industry Days dedicated to supporting drama projects in their development stages, has unveiled seven promising drama series from Southeast Europe for its upcoming lineup. Five of these projects will be refined during an on-site workshop in Slano, Croatia, with a focus on script development and story editing with an aim of better positioning these projects in the market. The selected projects will be presented at a highly anticipated pitching session during the Sarajevo Film Festival on August 19 where additional projects will be featured. Details on these selections will be announced in the coming weeks. Furthermore, CineLink Drama offers three prestigious awards: Council of Europe Series Co-Production Development Award (€50.000), the Croatian Audiovisual Center Drama Award, which includes a prize of €15.000, and the TV Drama Vision Pitch Award, where one project is selected for presentation at the TV Drama Vision event in Gothenburg.

This year’s selection highlights the growing maturity of regional storytelling and the ability of its creators to produce high-quality content, grounded in professional experience and marked by compelling, authentic narratives.

The rise in adapted content in this year’s submissions, and thus in final selection, highlights the growing synergy between the publishing and film industries. It reflects the idea that powerful, relevant stories are not confined to a single form—they resonate across artistic disciplines and find new life as they are reimagined for the screen. This transposition from literature to film not only enriches the narrative depth of the projects but also broadens their cultural reach, allowing stories to engage wider audiences while preserving the essence of their literary origins.

This year’s CineLink Drama features seven titles, highlighting a diverse range of genres—from political thrillers and crime dramas to socially engaged comedies and coming-of-age stories. After participating in the CineLink Co-production Market with her project Hysteria last year, Asimina Proedrou returns to CineLink with Beneath the Surface, a political thriller developed through the Series Mania Institute program. This year’s Bulgarian entry is South Stream, a crime drama by Marko Popović and Iva Mitrović, produced by Krastyo Lambev. Vladimir Tagić, one of the creators of Operation Sabre (developed through CineLink Drama, where it won the Film Center Serbia Award and received accolades at Canneseries), presents an intimate comedy Wonderful, story about a small town teacher who gets a chance to change her life. Representing Greece is P.I.G.S., a socially engaged dramedy created by Theo Papadoulakis and produced by Ioana Davi. From Montenegro, Homeboyz, a coming-of-age comedy about two rising hip-hop musicians by creator Stefan Bošković and producer Ivan Đurović, is featured. A significant portion of this year’s selection is dedicated to literary adaptations, including Red Water, created by Ljubica Luković and produced by Danijel Pek. This adaptation of Jurica Pavičić’s novel also sees Pavičić writing the screenplay. This Croatian bestseller tracks the protagonists as they navigate political turmoil, war, and its enduring effects, all within the structure of a crime drama. Additionally, Gorila, a period crime drama by Gábor Krigler, adapts the Yugoslavian bestseller by Dušan Savković, exploring two unsolved crimes linked to Alain Delon’s bodyguard, produced by Serbian company Firefly.


Beneath the Surface
Creator and Writer: Asimina Proedrou
Director: Asimina Proedrou
Producer: Dionyssis Samiotis
Production company: Tanweer Productions)
Country: Greece
A young woman in Athens, an ex-special forces in the Balkans, and a US executive, all bound by the international metals trade, make choices that spark global collapse and must face their inner truths.

Gorrilla
Creator: Gabor Krigler
Writers: Eszter Angyalosy, Cyril Tysz
Director: Christian Gudegast
Producer: Ivana Miković
Production Company: Firefly Productions
Country: Serbia
In the decadent world of 1960s Paris, a French movie star and his Yugoslav bodyguard's powerful brotherhood shatters when a Hollywood murder threatens to destroy them both.

Homeboyz
Creator and Writer: Stefan Bošković
Producer: Ivan Đurović
Production Company: Artikulacija
Country: Montenegro
Talented Mensur and Koča dream of success, but their debt to criminal Ljuka pulls them into a dangerous underworld. As they rise in music, they face escalating conflicts and unforeseen consequences

P.I.G.S.
Creator and Director: Theo Papadoulakis
Writers: Gabor Krigler, Giulio Rizzo
Producer: Ioanna Davi
Production Company: Indigo View Productions
Country: Greece
When four Mediterranean misfit MEPs discover a dangerous plot in EU's underbelly, they must act fast to defend their culinary heritage from corporate exploitation.

Red Water
Creator: Ljubica Luković
Writers: Ljubica Luković, Jurica Pavičić
Director: Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović
Producer: Danijel Pek
Production Company: Antitalent
Country: Croatia
In 1989 seaside Croatia a family is shattered by their daughter’s disappearance. Her dark secrets disintegrate the community over two decades until the return of the ex-investigator unveils the truth.

South Stream
Creator: Marko Popović
Writers: Marko Popović, Iva Mitrović
Producers: Krastyo Lambev, Marko Popović
Co-Producers: Milan Stojanović, Orestis Plakias, Christo Grozev
Production Company: Concept Studio
Co-Production Companies: Sense Production, Foss Productions
Countries: Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece
While searching for his missing fiancé, an ex-con finds himself entangled in a multinational cover-up regarding an ongoing energy war between European Union and Russia.

Wonderful
Creators and Writers: Katarina Mitrović, Isidora Veselinović, Vladimir Tagić
Directors: Vladimir Tagić, Isidora Veselinović
Producer: Marija Stojanović
Production Company: Sense Production
Country: Serbia
Unsatisfied with how her life has turned out, a woman starts waking up in the mornings of some key decisions that shaped it and takes alternate paths towards different lives that could have been.