Film festivals in Skopje and Cottbus

In late October 2026, Skopje hosted the 17th ECHO Mountain Film Festival, which featured 49 international screenings focused on mountaineering, ecology, and mountain culture. A notable part of the program included a presentation on the Vrelo underwater cave expedition, which reached a depth of 338 meters. This exploration set three world records, establishing the site as the deepest underwater cave explored by humans.

By early November, other regional film events were announced. The 36th Cottbus Film Festival in Germany, running from November 3 to 8, scheduled a program featuring eight Montenegrin films to mark 20 years of independence, including the competition feature “Crna truba” and the Oscar candidate documentary “Planina”. The festival also highlights Latvian cinema and features “A Woman Asleep,” a Turkish film described as the first fully AI-generated feature to compete in the main competition of an established international film festival. Concurrently, the Skopje Film Festival returned after a three year hiatus, presenting 14 contemporary international feature films and European shorts through a new organizational team.