A coproduction between Montenegro, Serbia, Germany and Croatia, The Tower of Strength had its world premiere at the 2024 Cottbus Film Festival, and later won the awards for best director and best screenplay at the Zaragoza International Film Festival, and also the award for best cinematographer (Đorđe Stojiljković) at the Jaipur International Film Festival.

The film had its Montenegrin premiere in the main competition of 38th Montenegro Film Festival (23 – 29 August 2025).

Set in 1941 Montenegro during WWII, The Tower of Strength follows Doka, a Muslim Albanian patriarch, who defies his former enemy Gjona, a member of the SS division "Skanderbeg", to protect a Montenegrin Christian child being hunted by Gjonaj’s troops.  

The film was produced by Galileo Productions and coproduced by Cinnamon Films, Embrio Production, Progressive Films, Mogador Film, with support from the Radio-Television of Montenegro, the Film Centre of Montenegro, Film Center Serbia, the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, the Montenegrin Ministry of Culture and Media, and CEKUM.

This is the second submission for Nikola Vukcević after The Kids from the Marx and Engels Street / Dječaci iz Ulice Marksa i Engelsa (Galileo Production), which was submitted by Montenegro to the Academy Awards in the same category.

The shortlist in the international film category will be unveiled on 16 December 2025, followed by the nominations on 22 January, and the 98th annual award of the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on 15 March 2026.