RIDM presents
WESTERN BALKANS FOCUS: BLURRING THE LINES
Image from the documentary I Have Never Been on an Airplane by Redon Kika
Montreal, Wednesday, August 26, 2026 - The Montreal International Documentary Festival (RIDM) is unveiling the first part of the lineup for its 29th edition, which will take place from November 19 to 29, 2026. This year, the festival is dedicating a major segment to the Western Balkans, which will be complemented by a second season of the podcast Le monde dans mes oreilles, produced by Caroline Marcoux-Gendron and broadcast on CHOQ.
Western Balkans Focus: Blurring the Lines
This year’s Territorial Focus explores the Western Balkans through six features and six short films from Kosovo, Serbia and North Macedonia, building on RIDM’s ongoing relationships with DokuFest, Beldocs and MakeDox. Rather than treating this cinematic landscape as a fixed geographical entity, the program approaches the region as a constellation of interconnected histories and perspectives, where belonging, identity and borders remain in constant negotiation.
Southeast Europe offers a compelling lens through which to consider broader questions of coexistence and the relationship between personal experience, collective memory and geopolitical reality. Through intimate stories and formally adventurous works, these films embrace plurality while revealing the richness and diversity of contemporary documentary practices emerging from the territory.
From Kosovo, The Beauty of the Donkey by Dea Gjinovci, I Have Never Been on an Airplane by Redon Kika, I Believe the Portrait Saved Me by Alban Muja, and Worker’s Wings by Ilir Hasanaj will be presented alongside the Serbian works Promised Spaces and Inventory by Ivan Marković, Sunset by Miloš Jaćimović, This Desirable Device by Mina Simendić, and The Divine Feminine by Ivana Todorović. Meanwhile, North Macedonia will be represented by Disturbed Earth by Guillermo Carreras-Candi and Kumjana Novakova, The Tale of Silyan by Tamara Kotevska, and Mushrooms Grow in Memory by Hanis Bagashov.
With the aim of providing a space for dialogue and artistic exchange, the screenings will be accompanied by various activities designed to reflect on contemporary documentary filmmaking, as well as on collaboration and distribution in the Western Balkans.
Le monde dans mes oreilles: Discovering a territory through music
Following an initial collaboration in 2025, RIDM is once again teaming up with the podcast Le monde dans mes oreilles, hosted by Caroline Marcoux-Gendron and broadcast on CHOQ. Last year, the festival took part in the final episode, recorded with filmmaker Arjun Talwar, whose feature Letters from Wolf Street was screened as the opening film of the 28th edition. For this new season, RIDM is taking a more active role by co-developing seven episodes entirely dedicated to the Western Balkans.
To launch the series, the director speaks with Marlene Edoyan and Hubert Sabino-Brunette, co-director and co-artistic director of the festival. This first episode is now available. A new interview will be released every two weeks, starting September 8.
Each recording (in English or in French) will reveal, through music, the migration journey of someone from this region, whether they now live in Quebec or are among the festival’s guests. Through these life stories, the podcast offers a personal perspective on the world and makes music a living memory. By opening each episode with a new soundscape, Le monde dans mes oreilles complements RIDM’s Territorial Focus.
To listen to the podcast:choq.ca/balados/le-monde-dans-mes-oreilles
About RIDM
Striving to showcase the most stimulating and diverse visions of documentary cinema, the Montreal International Documentary Festival (RIDM) offers audiences a unique program that brings together the works of established filmmakers and promising new talents, while focusing on creating encounters between artists and audiences.
The 29th annual RIDM will take place from November 19 to 29, 2026.
Information:ridm.ca / info@ridm.ca
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Media contact: Caroline Rompré | pixelleX communications | 514-778-9294 |caroline@pixellex.ca