The Moldovan film The New Village, developed by Realitatea Film, has won the Audience Award at the Heart of Europe 2026 Forum, organised in Warsaw by Polish public broadcaster TVP.
Heart of Europe consists of two sections. The festival showcases productions by public broadcasters from across the region, while the Forum is dedicated to young creators from Central and Eastern Europe, who present their projects in pitching sessions before industry professionals and audiences.
The New Village is a dark comedy about manipulation and memory. An opportunistic politician from Chișinău is sent to a remote, forgotten village to turn it into a “Soviet model village” and exploit local residents’ nostalgia for electoral gain. As he attempts to reinvent the past, however, his plan spirals out of control.
The project was praised for its subject matter and humour, winning the audience’s support.
In Warsaw, the project was presented by Sergiu Scobioala, the creator of the original idea, together with his daughter, Laura-Sofia Scobioala. She spoke about how young people perceive nostalgia in online narratives.
The screenplay was written by Ruslan Gilca, and the film is directed by Igor Vlas.
At the same time, the Festival’s competition showcased the best productions from public television stations in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, and Ukraine: films, series, documentaries, entertainment, children’s programs, and digital projects. Gold and silver awards were presented in six categories. The Gold Award for fiction went to the film “Mom” by Czech Television, and for series, to the Polish series “Variola Vera” (TVP). In the children’s and youth category, the winner was “Generation Nika” (ČT); for documentary “The Passenger. Andrzej Munk” (TVP) won in the documentary category, “Kill Zone” (LRT, Lithuania) won in the short documentary category, and “Matters of the Heart” (LSM, Latvia) won in the digital and entertainment category.