At the sixteenth edition of the international co-production forum "When East Meets West" (WEMW), which was held in Trieste from January 18th to 20th, the documentary film "Sacred Songs" won the Film Center of Montenegro award. The prize of two thousand euros was awarded as part of the "Last Stop Trieste" program, which presented feature-length documentary films in the final stages of production.
International jury consisting of Tereza Bona Kajlova (HBO Europe), Marko Erakovic (Film Center of Montenegro), Black Gold (ART - WIND) i Meike Statema (IDFA) awarded the Film Center Award to the Georgian project "Sacred Songs", produced by the company "17/07 Productions". At the festival's closing ceremony, the head of the Department for International Cooperation, Promotion and Distribution of the Film Center of Montenegro, Marko Eraković awarded female directors NoNo Djunashvili i To Mary Bicadze for a project that left a strong impression on everyone with its powerful, yet measured visual expression. "We had the privilege of witnessing a world on the brink of extinction. We particularly appreciate the dedication of the authors in their efforts to ensure that these voices resonate permanently in our minds," the jury stated.
Sacred Songs is a documentary film set in the remote Pankisi Valley of Georgia, where a small Muslim community preserves an ancient tradition, sacred Sufi songs performed by Chechen women from the Kisti people. Raisa Margoshvili is the last woman to have performed these powerful religious chants in a mosque for decades. But times are changing, and without younger women willing to carry on the tradition, the songs threaten to fall silent forever. The film follows the last moments of a tradition on the verge of extinction, women's voices still filling concert halls across Europe, but at home, doors are closing, radical ideas are spreading, and a once vibrant musical culture is becoming a memory.
As part of the cooperation agreement between the Film Center of Montenegro and the forum "When East Meets West", Montenegrin producers also participated in various programs. The workshop "EAVE Slate 2026" was attended by Jasmina Karajlovic from the production company "Montenegro Max Film", while Milena Charan from "Taurus Production" participated in the workshop "Sustainable Leadership". Among the participants of the forum was also a director and producer Ivan Marinović.
Bonus video:
