The Load, Ognjen Glavonić’s Serbian political thriller which premiered in Cannes Directors’ Fortnight and plays this week in Sarajevo Film Festival’s Feature Competition, has been racking up the deals for sales agent New Europe.

the load c tatjana krstevski non aligned films

Source: Tatjana Krstevski / Non-Aligned Films

‘The Load’

Adding to the previously agreed US sale (Grasshopper Films) are new deals in France (Nour Films), China (Lemon Tree), Spain (La Aventura), former-Yugoslavia (Five Stars Film Distribution) and Central & Eastern Europe (HBO TV).

Set in Serbia in 1999, the political thriller follows a truck driver tasked with transporting a mysterious load from Kosovo to Belgrade, traversing a terrain scarred by war.

Leon Lučev (Circles) leads the cast. Producers are Non-Aligned Films (Serbia) with co-producers Cinéma Defacto (France), Kinorama (Croatia) and Three Gardens Film (Iran) and with support of the CNC (Aide aux cinemas du monde), Eurimages, Visions Sud Est, the Hubert Bals Fund, Croatian Audiovisual Centre, Film Center Serbia and the Doha Film Institute. The project previously won the Best Pitch Award at Connecting Cottbus.

In Cannes, Screen’s review called it a “clear-eyed political thriller”.