The film is a majority Macedonian coproduction between Veda Film Productions (North Macedonia), Screening Emotions (Bulgaria) and Studio Corvus (Croatia). The project is backed by the North Macedonia Film Agency, the Bulgarian National Film Center, the Croatian Audiovisual Centre and Eurimages.  

Developed under its earlier title The Sweet Bitterness of Ripe Pomegranates, the project took part in several major international development and training platforms, including TorinoFilmLab ScriptLab 2019, TFL Green Film Lab 2022 in Palma de Mallorca and the APostLab Workshop Luxembourg 2023 focusing on postproduction. The project was presented at the TorinoFilmLab Meeting Event 2022, where it won the APostLab Award, consisting of €20,000 in picture and sound post-production services from the Amsterdam-based studios Filmmore and POSTA Veermas. The project was also presented at the 2025 Sofia Meetings Work in Progress during the 22nd Sofia Film Festival.

Set in a rigid rural world shaped by silence and duty, The Sweetness of Bitter Things follows a withdrawn middle-aged physician whose carefully controlled life starts to unravel when she takes in and nurses a wounded stranger, awakening a forbidden desire that can no longer be contained.

Volkashin is a Macedonian screenwriter, director and published author, and an alumnus of Serial Eyes, TorinoFilmLab, Berlinale Talents and Sarajevo Talents. He has written and directed four award-winning short films that have screened internationally, with one attaining cult status, and developed The Sweetness of Bitter Things through TorinoFilmLab, where it was recognised with several awards. He is currently developing his second feature film and a comedy series titled The Adventures of a Turbo Folk Princess, which picked up prizes at CineLink Drama and Connecta 2024.

A festival premiere is expected to be announced in the coming months once postproduction is completed in Amsterdam.