About festival
The mission of the festival is to present Balkan creators from Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania, Greece, and Turkey to the world.
The national cinematographies of the Balkans have always produced outstanding films, yet they often have not received enough attention from the global public. The festival aims to spotlight the most successful and original films from the Balkans, thereby increasing the interest of selectors from major European festivals and representatives of film funds.
The vision of the festival is to become the dominant festival within the next five years, with a clearly defined program and awards primarily focused on recognizing the profession of film directing.
The festivals main awards bear the names of two significant auteurs: Živojin Žika Pavlović and Dušan Makavejev.
Through its programs, the festival will attract audiences by offering them the opportunity to watch the most important films from the region, meet established filmmakers, and discover emerging talents. In doing so, the festival will place film directing at the center of attention and encourage audiences to view cinematic works from a new perspective.
Goals:
With the rise of television series hyperproduction, the role and position of directors are no longer as clearly defined as they were just five or ten years ago. TV series, now increasingly dominant and widely recognized as the "content" of showrunners—creators—inevitably steer scriptwriting towards commercial or thematic formulas that cater to market demands and audience preferences. This trend is increasingly affecting the quality of films as well.
Visual literacy, the visual nature of cinema, and the director’s imagination are being neglected. The process of artistic creation in film and television is being sidelined, and as a result, artistic expression is valued less than commercial content. This festival aims to highlight precisely these concerns across all its programs and, together with fellow directors from the region, recognize and reward the best filmmakers.
The job of every filmmaker—whether in film or television—is to transform and elevate the script into an artistic form, offering a unique and original vision.
The national cinematographies of the Balkans have always produced outstanding films, yet they often have not received enough attention from the global public. The festival aims to spotlight the most successful and original films from the Balkans, thereby increasing the interest of selectors from major European festivals and representatives of film funds.
The vision of the festival is to become the dominant festival within the next five years, with a clearly defined program and awards primarily focused on recognizing the profession of film directing.
The festivals main awards bear the names of two significant auteurs: Živojin Žika Pavlović and Dušan Makavejev.
Through its programs, the festival will attract audiences by offering them the opportunity to watch the most important films from the region, meet established filmmakers, and discover emerging talents. In doing so, the festival will place film directing at the center of attention and encourage audiences to view cinematic works from a new perspective.
Goals:
- Establish awards for the best directors, encouraging the quality of filmmaking in the region.
- Develop lasting relationships among regional colleagues and foster collaboration between
- related associations and organizations.
- Through film premieres with the presence of filmmakers, the festival will encourage Belgrade
- cinemas to include Balkan films in their regular programming.
- Create supporting programs aimed at establishing a platform for the further development of the regions cinematic industry.
- Contribute to the creation of a unified cultural market in the region.
- Facilitate collaboration among filmmakers, directors, producers, television networks, and streaming platforms across all Balkan countries.
With the rise of television series hyperproduction, the role and position of directors are no longer as clearly defined as they were just five or ten years ago. TV series, now increasingly dominant and widely recognized as the "content" of showrunners—creators—inevitably steer scriptwriting towards commercial or thematic formulas that cater to market demands and audience preferences. This trend is increasingly affecting the quality of films as well.
Visual literacy, the visual nature of cinema, and the director’s imagination are being neglected. The process of artistic creation in film and television is being sidelined, and as a result, artistic expression is valued less than commercial content. This festival aims to highlight precisely these concerns across all its programs and, together with fellow directors from the region, recognize and reward the best filmmakers.
The job of every filmmaker—whether in film or television—is to transform and elevate the script into an artistic form, offering a unique and original vision.