Bosnian-Dutch filmmaker Ena Sendijarević first came onto the scene when she followed her Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight preemed short Import (2016) to the ACID premiere of her feature debut Take Me Somewhere Nice (2019) which would later be honored with the Special Jury Prize at IFFR. Her sophomore outing Sweet Dreams (2023), premiered in Locarno’s main competition, where it won the Pardo for Best Performance. Known for her distinctive mix of surrealism, dark humour and social observation, Sendijarević often explores power, identity, migration and the uneasy dynamics of belonging. Here is everything we know so far for…Ena Sendijarević‘s The Possessed.
Sendijarević’s third feature was presented at Les Arcs Film Festival back in 2023 followed by 2024’s IFFR CineMart and was greenlit shortly after. Pre-production took place in 2026 with the first major casting announcement in April followed by production this past September in Spain within Barcelona, Teruel and Bardenas Reales.
Written by Sendijarević, this catapults us into 17th-century Europe where two women fleeing widespread witch hunts create a refuge on the edge of the world, until a man becomes their unwilling captive and sparks a dangerous love triangle. Centuries later, a modern film crew resurrects their story. But as desire, suspicion and control take over the shoot, the past begins to haunt the present.
Ariane Labed first embarked on the project and was then joined by Suzy Bemba, Khalil Gharbia and Ji-Min Park. The principal characters were identified as the Midwife (Labed), the Baroness (Bemba), the Shepherd (Gharbia) and the Director (Park).
Sendijarević was joined by cinematographer Douwe Hennink for the first time, and the score signed by La bola negra’s Raül Refree. This is produced by Studio Ruba’s Layla Meijman and Maarten van der Ven, and co-produced by Mirage Films’ Elisa Heene, Distinto Films’ Miriam Porté and Gerard Marginedas, VPRO Broadcast’s Martien Vlietman and Sendijarevic for her label Eklips.
We imagine a fall festival season drop in 2027 — perhaps a return to competition in Locarno, or a premiere at Venice, Toronto, and/or San Sebastian.
