To Hold a Mountain

Directed by Biljana Tutorov, Petar Glomazić
Serbia
2026
105 mins

Synopsis

Winner of Sundance’s World Cinema Documentary Prize, this enthralling film follows a mother and daughter trying to stop their picturesque mountain home from becoming a NATO base.

Set high on Montenegro’s remote Sinjajevina plateau, this spectacular documentary follows Gara and her daughter Nada, who live amongst a community of women who spend their summers tending cattle, making cheese and fending off wolves. But their quiet way of life is under threat by plans for a NATO military training ground on the mountain. Gara leads the resistance, refusing to let her home, known as Mother, be taken. But as fragments of her family's past resurface, Gara’s story expands beyond protest into something more challenging and cathartic. Directed by Biljana Tutorov and Petar Glomazić, and executive produced by Petra Costa (The Edge of Democracy, SFF 2019), this breathtaking film will stay with you.

What begins as a slow-burn observational documentary gradually reveals itself as an emotionally shattering meditation on grief and perseverance. Gorgeously shot with a quiet, deliberate rhythm, it’s the kind of film that entrances its audience without them noticing.
Murtada Elfadl, Variety

Tickets

Mon 8 June 2026, 4:30pm
Event Cinemas George Street - Cinema 11
Assisted ListeningWheelchair
Sat 13 June 2026, 12pm
Dendy Newtown - Cinema 1
Assisted ListeningWheelchair
  • Program Strand
  • Year
    2026
  • Classification
    Unclassified 15+
  • Country
    Serbia, France, Montenegro, Slovenia, Croatia
  • Language
    In Montenegrin with English subtitles
  • Director
    Biljana Tutorov, Petar Glomazić
  • Producer
    Biljana Tutorov, Petar Glomazić, Quentin Laurent, Rok Biček
  • Screenwriter
    Biljana Tutorov, Petar Glomazić
  • Cinematographer
    Eva Kraljević
  • Editor
    George Cragg, Catherine Rascon
  • Genre
  • Premiere
    Australian Premiere
  • Company Credits
    Australian Distributor: Madman Entertainment
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Sydney Film Festival acknowledges Australia’s First Nations People as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the land, and pay respect to the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, upon whose Country SFF is based.

We honour the storytelling and culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across Australia.

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