Everytime (2026): Sandra Wollner's De-Language Film

It was a big night in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and one little Austrian drama just walked away with the crown. Sandra Wollner’s Everytime has been named Best Film at the Sarajevo Film Festival, adding a major international trophy to its already glowing resume. The win lands just a couple of weeks after the movie’s theatrical release, and it’s clear the festival circuit is falling hard for this quiet, sun-drenched heartbreaker.

The story centers on a mother, a daughter, and a teenage boy who are thrown together by tragedy. Haunted by guilt and the messy business of forgiveness, this unlikely trio decides to take the family holiday that never happened - a trip to Tenerife that’s equal parts escape and confrontation. Under the Canary Islands’ relentless sun, the past and present start bleeding into each other, and what begins as a getaway becomes something far more emotionally complicated. It’s a drama with a runtime of 119 minutes, and while the setting screams vacation, the tension underneath is anything but relaxed.

Wollner, who directs from her own vision, has crafted a film that’s earning serious buzz for its performances. Birgit Minichmayr leads the cast as Ella, a mother carrying the weight of everything that went wrong. She’s joined by Tristán López as Lux, Lotte Keiling as Melli, and a supporting roster that includes Carla Hüttermann, Hermann Beyer, Eva Weißenborn, Knut Berger, and Lilly Marie Tschörtner. Early audiences seem to agree with the festival jury - the film currently sits at a solid 7.3 on TMDb, which suggests this isn’t just critical darling territory; it’s landing with regular viewers too.

But the night didn’t belong solely to Wollner. Georgian filmmaker Ana Urushadze walked away with the Best Director prize, a well-earned acknowledgment for her work behind the camera. While details on her winning film remain under wraps for now, the Sarajevo jury clearly saw something special in her direction. It’s a nice moment for Urushadze, who’s been building a reputation as a filmmaker with a keen eye for character-driven storytelling.

The Sarajevo Film Festival has long been a launchpad for European cinema that doesn’t fit the typical blockbuster mold, and this year’s winners reflect that spirit. Everytime is a deeply human story about how people deal with the aftermath of a shared trauma. It’s not flashy. There’s no action sequence, no plot twist designed to shock. Instead, it’s a patient, observant film that trusts its audience to sit with discomfort - and apparently, that patience paid off.

Wollner’s previous work already hinted at a filmmaker unafraid to explore unsettling emotional territory, and Everytime feels like a natural extension of that. The choice to set the story in Tenerife is smart; there’s something almost cruel about processing grief in a place built for pleasure. The sun doesn’t care about your pain, and the film leans into that contrast beautifully. As the characters move through their holiday that never was, the line between memory and reality grows thinner, and Wollner lets those moments hang in the air without over-explaining them.

For Minichmayr, this could be another standout chapter in an already impressive career. She’s known for bringing raw, unpolished vulnerability to her roles, and early reactions suggest Everytime gives her plenty of room to do that. The chemistry between her, López, and Keiling is reportedly the film’s emotional core, and if the festival buzz is any indication, it works.

It’s worth noting that Everytime only hit theaters on August 6, so for those who haven’t caught it yet, there’s still time to see what all the fuss is about. Awards season hasn’t fully kicked off, but a win like this at Sarajevo tends to set a tone. European film festivals love to anoint their favorites early, and Everytime just put itself firmly on the map.

As for what comes next, all eyes will be on Wollner and her team to see if they can carry this momentum through the rest of the year. There are still major festivals on the horizon, and a film with this kind of emotional weight often finds its way into more conversations. For now, though, let’s just give credit where it’s due: Everytime took the big prize, Urushadze took the director’s trophy, and audiences are left with a film that asks hard questions about love, loss, and the strange places we go to heal. Not bad for a movie that starts with a tragedy and ends up under the Spanish sun.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter