‘Everytime’ Movie News: Latest Updates & Release Info

The Sarajevo Film Festival has announced a competitive lineup of 51 films for its 2026 edition, with Austrian director Sandra Wollner’s “Everytime” headlining the program. The drama, which runs 123 minutes, will premiere at the festival before its theatrical release on August 6, 2026.

Wollner, known for her formally inventive approach to storytelling, returns with a film that centers on an unconventional trio brought together by tragedy. The official synopsis describes how a mother, her daughter, and a teenage boy are forced to confront questions of blame and forgiveness after a devastating event. Seeking some form of resolution, they embark on a trip to Tenerife - a family holiday that was originally meant to happen but never did. As the sun beats down on the Spanish island, the boundaries between past and present begin to blur.

The cast includes Birgit Minichmayr as Ella, Tristán López as Lux, Lotte Keiling as Melli, Carla Hüttermann as Jessie, Hermann Beyer as Hermann, Eva Weißenborn as Eva, Knut Berger as Gerry, and Lilly Marie Tschörtner as Jelena. Minichmayr, a respected Austrian actress with a strong track record at European festivals, has previously worked with directors such as Jessica Hausner and Michael Haneke.

“Everytime” is one of several high-profile titles expected to generate buzz during the Sarajevo festival, which has grown in stature as a key platform for emerging and established filmmakers from across the region and beyond. The 51 films in competition span multiple categories, including feature, documentary, and short film sections.

Festival Context and Director’s Background

The Sarajevo Film Festival, now in its 32nd year, has long served as a vital meeting point for Southeast European cinema. This year’s competition reflects the festival’s commitment to showcasing bold, personal narratives that examine grief, memory, and human connection. Wollner’s previous work, including the 2020 sci-fi drama “The Trouble With Being Born,” earned critical acclaim for its unsettling, philosophical take on identity and artificial intelligence. That film won the Special Jury Prize in the Encounters section at the Berlin International Film Festival.

With “Everytime,” Wollner appears to shift toward a more grounded, interpersonal drama while retaining her signature interest in fractured timelines and subjective experience. The decision to set much of the action on the sun-drenched vacation island of Tenerife provides a visual contrast to the weighty emotional terrain. Bright exteriors and holiday imagery serve as a backdrop for characters wrestling with guilt and the impossibility of truly moving on.

Cast Highlights and Performance Expectations

Birgit Minichmayr’s role as Ella places her at the center of the film’s emotional storm. The character is a mother grappling with the fallout of a loss that has reshaped her family. Lotte Keiling, a relative newcomer, plays the daughter Melli, while Tristán López takes on the role of Lux, the teenage boy whose presence complicates the family dynamic. Carla Hüttermann and veteran actors Hermann Beyer and Eva Weißenborn round out the adult cast, with Knut Berger and Lilly Marie Tschörtner also appearing.

The performances are likely to be a key point of discussion when the film screens at Sarajevo. Early assessments will focus on how the ensemble handles the delicate balance between simmering resentment and tentative healing.

Thematic Layers and Narrative Structure

Wollner’s screenplay reportedly weaves together two timelines - the holiday that never happened and the one the characters are now living through. The line between memory and reality becomes increasingly porous as the story unfolds. This structural device allows the director to explore how people reinterpret the past, especially when faced with irrevocable loss. Tenerife’s tourist landscape, with its beaches and endless sunlight, becomes a kind of liminal space where old wounds are reopened and new understandings emerge.

The film’s TMDb rating currently sits at 0/10, reflecting that no reviews have yet been published. That will change once the Sarajevo screenings begin and critics weigh in.

Release and Distribution Plans

“Everytime” is scheduled for a theatrical release on August 6, 2026, shortly after its festival debut. While no wide international distribution has been announced as of this writing, the film’s placement in Sarajevo’s competition program increases its chances of securing additional festival slots and potential deals with arthouse distributors in Europe and North America.

For now, the film represents one of the more anticipated entries in a competitive slate that, as always, mixes local talent with international names. The Sarajevo Film Festival runs through late July, with jury prizes expected to be awarded in early August.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter