CIRCLE Fiction Orbit 2026 Cohort
Project Name
POR ESTE ARROIOS ACIMA
Portugal
Leonor Bettencourt Loureiro
Director
Leonor Bettencourt Loureiro is a Lisbon-based filmmaker whose work combines humour, politics and realism. She writes, directs and produces through a DIY approach. Her first feature, C’est Pas la Vie en Rose (2026), explores gentrification, community and belonging in contemporary Lisbon. She is also a member of MUTIM and is currently developing her second feature around urban territories, collective care and feminist perspectives..
Rita de Moura Santos
Producer
Rita de Moura Santos is a Portuguese producer working across film and advertising. Her recent credits include Portuguese Love, Lovely, Dark, and Deep, Lost in Fuseta, A Pinch of Portugal, Vanda and 5STARZ. Alongside her film work, she collaborates regularly with international brands in advertising. Her practice is guided by intersectional feminism, social inclusion and a commitment to ethical, inclusive production environments.
Project Name
Nutsa.LOVE
Georgia
Irine Jordania
Director
Irine Jordania is a Georgian filmmaker working across fiction and hybrid cinema. Her short 12 K. Marx Street (2019) premiered at Sarajevo and was a European Film Awards candidate, while her debut feature Air Blue Silk (2024) premiered at Tallinn Black Nights. She also co-wrote Holy Electricity (2024), winner of the Golden Leopard – Junior Jury Prize at Locarno. Her second feature, Nutsa. Love, is in development.
Elene Margvelashvili
Producer
Elene Margvelashvili is a Georgian film producer, cultural strategist and founder of Tbilisi-based Parachute Films. Since 2014, she has produced internationally acclaimed fiction and documentaries, including Dead Souls’ Vacation (Hot Docs), Blueberry Dreams (CPH), Air Blue Silk (Tallinn Black Nights) and Nobody in Sight. Her work focuses on auteur cinema and international co-productions. She is a Chevening Scholar and an alumna of Rotterdam Lab, EAVE CHANGE and BDC Discoveries.
Project Name
THE SOLOIST
Poland
Marta Prus
Director
Marta Prus is a Polish film director, screenwriter and lecturer at the Łódź Film School. Named by Variety among its “10 Europeans to Watch”, she has directed several award-winning short films. Her acclaimed feature documentary Over the Limit premiered in IDFA’s Main Competition and screened at festivals including Visions du Réel, Hot Docs and Sydney Film Festival. She also works in fiction and documentary series for television.
Project Name
PREMIER SOUFFLE
The Netherlands, France
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Sabine Lubbe Bakker
Director
Sabine Lubbe Bakker is a Dutch filmmaker working across fiction and documentary. Her feature Shout (2010) was followed by Ne Me Quitte Pas (2014), which won awards at the Netherlands Film Festival and Tribeca. Her fiction debut Becoming Mona (2020), co-directed with Niels van Koevorden, also won a Golden Calf. She recently co-wrote the series Ten Monks and is currently developing the book adaptation I Promise and her original screenplay Premier Souffle.
Project Name
LEECH
Montenegro, North Macedonia, Greece
Katarina Bulajić Vuković
Director
Katarina Bulajić Vuković is a Montenegrin film and television director based in Podgorica. A graduate of directing in Belgrade and Film Studies in Budapest, she has worked across film and television as a director and assistant director. She is an alumna of Berlinale Talents Sarajevo and Reykjavik Talents and runs her production company, Roshula Films. Her authorial work spans fiction and documentary, often exploring freedom and its personal and social dimensions.
Ana Vujadinović Tomić
Producer
Ana Vujadinović Tomić is a Montenegrin screenwriter and dramaturg based in Podgorica. Her feature credits include Iskra (2017), Luča (2022), Planet 7693 (2024) and Obraz (2024). Iskra and Obraz were selected as Montenegro’s official submissions for the Academy Awards, while Obraz also received the Best Screenplay Award at the Zaragoza International Film Festival. Her work spans film, theatre, television and documentary.
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