At the 31st Sarajevo Film Festival, the 23rd edition of CineLink Industry Days concluded by awarding over €171.000 in cash and an additional €80.000 in-kind prizes to a diverse slate of film and television projects from Southeast Europe and the MENA region. The awards ceremony recognized outstanding work across its three main sections: the CineLink Co-Production Market, CineLink Drama, and CineLink Work in Progress.

In the Co-Production Market, the top prize, the Eurimages Co-Production Development Award worth €20.000, was granted to the Hungarian project Places Half Empty by director Dorka Vermes. Further co-production support was awarded by national film centers. The Film Center Montenegro CineLink Award of €10.000 went to the Austrian-Azerbaijani project Stone Over Stone by Hilal Baydarov, while the Film Center Serbia CineLink Award, also €10.000, was presented to the Croatian-Slovenian film Pogana by David Kapac. The ArteKino International Prize of €6.000 was awarded to the international co-production Two Little Nightmares by Nebojša Slijepčević. A significant cross-category award, the €20.000 Female Voices CineLink Award, was given to Zeynep Köprülü’s Turkish project Rain Country.

The CineLink Drama section, focused on serialized content, presented its highest honor, the Council of Europe Series Co-Production Development Award of €50.000, to the Croatian series Red Water by creator Ljubica Luković. The Croatian Audiovisual Center Drama Award of €15.000 was bestowed upon the Serbian series Wonderful by creators Katarina Mitrović, Isidora Veselinović, and Vladimir Tagić. The TV Drama Vision Pitch Award was won by the Serbian project Gorilla, created by Gabor Krigler.

The Work in Progress section, showcasing films in post-production, saw its most prestigious award, the HBO Award of €30.000, go to the multi-national Serbian-led project Who Are We by director Miroslav Terzić. The Turkish National Radio Television Award of €10.000 was given to the Belgian-Palestinian-Lebanese co-production Yesterday the Eye Didn’t Sleep by Rakan Mayasi. Significant in-kind support for post-production services was also awarded. The Post Republic Award, valued at €30,000, went to the Israeli-German project Where To? by Assaf Machnes, and the Avanpost Media Award, also valued at €30.000, was presented to the North Macedonian-Serbian-Slovenian film *17* by Kosara Mitić.

Additional awards included the Think-Film Impact Production Award, providing €20,000 in-kind to the Romanian documentary Lost and Found: Romania’s Hidden Adoption Market by Laurentiu Garofeanu. The EAVE+ Award, a scholarship for professional development, was granted to producer Marija Stojanović.