23rd Verzió Festival 16–25/11 2026.

Miss Sarajevo Returns

Miss Sarajevo Returns

Poster
Miss Sarajevo Returns poster
Directed by

Albie Swingler

United Kingdom, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Netherlands | 2026 | 22 min | English, Bosnian, Dutch
Full Synopsis

Thirty years after the siege of Sarajevo, Inela Nogić, the former “Miss Besieged Sarajevo,” confronts her past to reclaim her story from the Western media, which turned her into a symbol of war and later a commodity.

Miss Sarajevo Returns was made possible with the support of the BFI Doc Society Fund, awarding National Lottery funding, and The Guardian.

Screening in the International Shorts II: Memory Under Fire section.

Producer
Aleksandra Bilić
Dorottya Székely
Distribution
Dorottya Szekely
My Accomplice
doro@myaccomplice.co.uk
Available Online
11. 21. SATURDAY 20:15
Screening + Q&A
Művész - Buñuel
Subtitle: English
11. 25. WEDNESDAY 16:15
Screening
Művész - Huszárik
Subtitle: English
Albie Swingler
Director
Albie Swingler

Albie Swingler is a creative producer and director. For the past six years, he has been working in documentaries for broadcast TV, independent feature film, digital media, and podcasts, pitching, developing, and producing content for a range of platforms and channels: BBC, Channel 4, BFI Doc Society, Channel 4, Netflix, A24, Prime Video, and Apple TV.
During this time, he has traveled worldwide, working on a range of access-led documentaries in Europe, the US, Mexico, and Panama. Albie has successfully gained access to a wide range of individuals and institutions - from some of the most notorious prisons in California, to cult members, to politicians, and the world’s first all-trans female football team.
Albie received BFI Doc Society Made of Truth funding to direct a short film, ‘Miss Sarajevo Returns,’ about the winner of a beauty pageant held during the Bosnian War. This has been acquired by The Guardian and will run at the festival later this year. His second short documentary, ‘The Garden We Made’, is the winner of the 2026 Netflix Documentary Talent Fund. Albie is also one of Broadcast Magazine’s Hot Shots 2025.