EXCLUSIVE: Wild State, the production company co-founded by Chris Hemsworth and Ben Grayson, has boarded Bosnian luge documentary The Track ahead of the film’s hometown screening at the Sarajevo Film Festival this month. The film, which marks the directorial feature debut of Canadian filmmaker Ryan Sidhoo, is set to screen in Sarajevo’s Open Air Premiere program.
The doc has had a big festival run this year, having played at the True/False Festival, Toronto’s Hot Docs and the San Francisco International Film Festival. You can read Deadline Documentary Editor Matt Carey’s piece on Sidhoo and the film following its world premiere here.
Wild State’s Ben Grayson and Kevin Joseph will serve as executive producers on The Track. Story follows three teenage boys – Mirza, Zlatan and Hamza – as they chase their unlikely Olympic dreams in post-war Sarajevo. Training on the bullet-ridden ruins of the 1984 Olympic luge track, their journey unfolds against a backdrop of economic hardship, political unrest and lingering trauma from the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The boys are guided by their resilient coach, Senad, whose unwavering commitment to rebuilding the neglected track mirrors his struggle to secure a future for the boys in a country burdened by the highest youth unemployment rate in Europe.
Produced by Spirit of 84 Films, The Track serves as a powerful allegory for post-conflict recovery and youth determination as well as a timely reflection on Bosnia’s conflict of the 1990s and the lingering cost of war. Sidhoo and Graham Withers of Spirit of 84 Films also exec produce alongside co-executive producers Jasmina Djikoli and Ervin Golubović.
“Ryan has done a masterful job capturing an incredible multi-generational story that celebrates the undeniable spirit that these young men display in full,” said Grayson. “We’re so proud of Senad, Mirza, Zlatan and Hamza and we can’t wait for people to be thrilled and inspired by this film.”
Jovan Marjanović, festival director of the Sarajevo Film Festival added: “It is incredibly meaningful to us to bring this film to Sarajevo – where the story began. The fact that this local story has found its way to international audiences and resonated so strongly speaks to its power and relevance. We are proud to welcome it back home and to share it with our festival audience in the very city that shaped it.”
The 31st Sarajevo Film Festival takes place August 15-22, 2025.
