Telemach Youth Film Festival Sarajevo (OFF Sarajevo)

Overview

The Telemach Youth Film Festival Sarajevo, known as OFF Sarajevo, is the largest short professional film festival in Southeast Europe and the second-largest film festival in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Founded in 2009, the 17th edition is scheduled for July 18 to 25, 2025. The festival screens approximately 70 films per year from over 10 countries, draws around 15,000 visitors and 200 accredited international guests, and operates the OFF Pro Film Market, a regional co-production market for short films that distributes over EUR 15,000 annually in cash and services.

For short film filmmakers from Southeast Europe and beyond, OFF Sarajevo provides a competitive platform with categories for professional shorts, youth-oriented shorts, and youth features. The festival's industry programme includes a co-production market, masterclass workshops, and conferences that connect emerging filmmakers with European producers and distributors. The festival covers travel and accommodation costs for attending filmmakers, investing tens of thousands of euros annually to ensure broad participation.

Submission Details

Submissions are accepted through the festival's official website. The festival runs a free waiver campaign during June, offering fee-free submission windows. The festival received a record number of submissions in 2025, including during the free waiver period.

Film length requirements:

• OFF Shorts (professional shorts): up to 25 minutes
• OFF Generation Short (youth-oriented shorts): up to 30 minutes
• OFF Generation Features (youth features): minimum 60 minutes

Eligibility: The festival accepts short films (up to 30 minutes) and feature-length productions (minimum 60 minutes) from Southeast Europe and the broader European region. Films are selected from hundreds of submissions each year.

Competition Sections

• OFF Shorts: Professional short films up to 25 minutes. This is the festival's flagship competitive category, open to established and emerging short film directors.
• OFF Generation Short: Youth-oriented short films up to 30 minutes, focused on content relevant to younger audiences.
• OFF Generation Features: Feature-length films (60+ minutes) oriented toward youth perspectives.
• OFF Screen: Non-competitive exhibition section for films outside the competitive categories.
• OFF Retrospective: Non-competitive section featuring retrospective screenings of significant works.

OFF Pro Film Market

The OFF Pro Film Market is the festival's industry programme, held over four days during the festival. It is one of the most important short film co-production markets in Europe and the only market of its type in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

OFF Co-Pro Market: Presents up to 15 short film projects in development from across Europe. Projects compete for co-production funds, a distribution strategy award from Gorila Distribution Italy, and the Manaki Brothers Film Festival award. The total value of awards is over EUR 15,000 in cash and film services.

The 2025 edition (the sixth OFF Pro Film Market) ran July 20-23 and introduced a new prize in collaboration with the Brussels CoProMarket: the best project from the Brussels CoProMarket in development and produced in Europe receives selection for the OFF Pro Film Market in Sarajevo, with accommodation and accreditation covered.

Industry Sessions: The market includes sessions focused on the development and promotion of short films, green policies in film production, budget reduction strategies, and co-production negotiations. Dozens of European producers and distributors attend annually.

Major Awards

• OFF Shorts Awards - competitive prizes for professional short films
• OFF Generation Short Awards - competitive prizes for youth-oriented shorts
• OFF Generation Features Awards - competitive prizes for youth features
• OFF Co-Pro Market Awards - co-production funding and distribution awards (over EUR 15,000 total value)
• Distribution Strategy Award - provided by Gorila Distribution Italy
• Manaki Brothers Film Festival Award - selection for the Manaki Brothers Film Festival
• Brussels CoProMarket Award - selection for the OFF Pro Film Market (introduced 2025)

Festival History

OFF Sarajevo was established in 2009 as a youth-focused film festival complementing the more established Sarajevo Film Festival. The festival initially ran for 5 days, expanding to 8 days starting with the 2024 edition. The OFF Pro Film Market launched in 2020 as the festival's industry initiative, growing to become one of the largest short film co-production markets in the region.

The festival is organized by a registered association and has grown to attract approximately 15,000 visitors, over 1,000 overnight stays, and 200 accredited international guests per edition. The 16th edition (2024) expected nearly 25,000 visitors across eight festival days. The festival has hosted young actors from Netflix, Amazon Prime, and HBO Max, positioning itself as a bridge between emerging European filmmaking talent and streaming platforms.

What Filmmakers Should Know

For short film filmmakers: OFF Sarajevo is the largest short professional film festival in Southeast Europe. The OFF Shorts competition is the primary category for professional short films up to 25 minutes. The festival invests in filmmaker attendance, covering travel and accommodation for selected filmmakers. Approximately 280 authors and professionals attend each year.

For short film producers: The OFF Co-Pro Market is the most direct route to securing co-production financing for short film projects in development. Up to 15 projects are selected annually, competing for over EUR 15,000 in cash and services. The market also provides distribution opportunities through partnerships with Gorila Distribution and the Manaki Brothers Film Festival.

For youth-oriented filmmakers: The OFF Generation categories are specifically for films addressing youth perspectives and issues. The festival actively seeks content that explores topics often overlooked in mainstream programming for younger audiences.

Budget-conscious submitters: The festival runs a free waiver campaign in June. Monitor the official website and social media channels for waiver announcements. The festival also offers free submission periods.

See Also

For the main Sarajevo Film Festival, see Sarajevo Film Festival. For festival strategy, see Film Festival Strategy. To calculate the return on your festival submission spending, use the Festival Entry Fee ROI Calculator. For budgeting a short film production, use the Indie Film Budget Calculator.