WARM Movies 2025: Three Days of Film, Conversation, and Shared Experience in Sarajevo

From December 12 to 14, Sarajevo hosted the first edition of WARM Movies, a new WARM initiative dedicated entirely to conflict-related cinema. Organised in partnership with Sarajevo Film Festival, the event brought together strong films, an engaged local audience, and what proved to be equally important: thoughtful, open conversations with the filmmakers themselves.

Over three evenings at Kino Meeting Point, Sarajevo audiences watched three of the most relevant conflict-related films of 2025, selected by WARM members and friends: 2000 Meters to Avdiivka by Mstyslav Chernov, The Voice of Hind Rajab by Kaouther Ben Hania, and Surviving Syria’s Prison, directed by Sasha Joelle Achilli and Sara Obeidat.

Each screening was followed by a conversation with the authors, turning the cinema into a space not only for watching films, but for exchanging experiences, questions, and perspectives shaped by direct work in and around conflicts. These discussions confirmed one of the core ideas behind WARM Movies: that films about war gain additional meaning when placed in dialogue with people who understand their contexts beyond the screen.

The response from the audience and participants made it clear that this first edition was more than a one-off event. The collaboration between WARM and the Sarajevo Film Festival on WARM Movies will continue, with the shared ambition of developing this gathering into an annual end-of-year moment in Sarajevo – an opportunity to pause, look back at the films that mattered, and talk about why they matter.

This first step was made possible thanks to the commitment of WARM members and the support of our partners, especially Pro Peace and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES). December 2025 marked the beginning of WARM Movies – and the conversations it opened are very much meant to continue.