FilmFestival Cottbus at Belgrade FEST

From 23rd February to 4th March, the renowned Belgrade International Film Festival FEST will take part for the 46th time. While the main competition programme offers 16 carefully chosen films from Hungary, Denmark, Iran, China, Argentina, Lebanon, Greece, Croatia, USA, Russia, Italy and Switzerland, sidebar sections like “Thrills & Kills“, “Microwave“, “Frontiers“ or „Fest Classic“ discuss the borders of film and beyond and present classic films.

The national competition will present five brand new Serbian feature films, four of them by debut filmmakers. The Belgrade “Victor” for outstanding contribution to film art will go to the Serbian actress Neda Arnerić and the Oscar-winning Hungarian director Istvan Szabó, the president of honour of the FilmFestival Cottbus.

The festival's industry section “FEST Forward“ focusses, organised by the Film Center Serbia in co-operation with the European Women's Audiovisual Network (EWA), on female filmmakes. The film industry website “Film New Europe“ quotes Boban Jevtić, the director of Film Center Serbia: “Now we are putting the issue of gender equality into the focus of this year’s international portion of FEST Forward, following general guidelines ultimately leading to greater chances for female filmmakers from various parts of the European continent. This year’s edition thus marks our formal and hopefully long-lived collaboration with EWA which certainly may result in making the film industry formally and practically more open and accessible for upcoming and experienced female filmmakers eager to tell stories from women’s points of view.“

Bernd Buder, programme director of the FilmFestival Cottbus, will join the Belgrade FEST from 1st to 4th March to scout for new Serbian films.

More information on the website of Film Festival FEST: www.fest.rs