The European Union Delegation to Serbia has supported the 52nd International Film Festival FEST, which will feature 12 films from European directors in the Main Competition programme! The festival visitors will again be invited to vote for the best European film, which will be presented the Audience Award during the closing ceremony. After seeing a film, you can rate it and help your favourites win.
The films in the Main Competition programme are slated for screening at MTS Dvorana and the Movie Theatre of the Cultural Centre of Belgrade (DKC). This year, as many as three Serbian films compete for the Belgrade Victor Prize, in addition to two films co-produced by Serbia. Among the competitors are previous FEST winners, while there is also a chance for the Belgrade Victor to go to last week’s winner of the Berlinale Festival.
This year, cinephiles can enjoy 10 days of films, with 108 films from more than 40 countries. In addition to the Main Competition programme, visitors can have their pick at the following programmes: Gala, Gala+, FEST Masters, FEST Focus, FEST 52, Dreamlike Film, FEST Anima, Doku FEST, FEST Classic, FEST Series, and FEST Intro.
FEST opens with The Holdovers, directed by Oscar-winner Alexander Payne, which has already received several nominations from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The Festival closes with the last movie starring Žarko Laušević, The Russian Consul, based on the novel by Vuk Drašković and directed by Miroslav Lekić.
The European Union proudly supports Serbian cinematography. Serbian films occupy a vital place in the European movie industry and its cultural space. Among the films and TV shows supported by the EU through its Creative Europe programme are some of the most significant achievements in film and TV in recent years – Father, Bad Blood, The Summer I Learned to Fly, As Far as I Can Walk, The Witch Hunters, Darkling, Frost, Black Wedding, The Last Socialist Artefact, etc. These titles have been awarded multiple times, while Bad Blood was the first Serbian film featured on Netflix. In addition to FEST, the European Union supports numerous film festivals across Serbia.
Between 2021 and 2023, 161 Serbian organisations participated in 175 projects supported by the Creative Europe programme. As part of the new call for proposals, Culture Moves Europe has awarded 30 individual grants to Serbian artists and cultural professionals. In the said period, the financial support from Creative Europe amounted to 11.5 million euros. Within the Media subprogramme, 67 organisations have received nearly 5.5 million euros for 75 projects, whereas the Culture subprogramme supported 100 projects from 94 organisations to the tune of six million euros.
Tickets for the 52nd International Film Festival FEST, running from 23 February to 3 March, are available from 14 February. The Festival takes place in six locations in Belgrade: MTS Dvorana, Dom omladine, Dvorana Kulturnog centra, the Yugoslav Film Archive, Cineplexx Ušće, and Cineplexx Galerija. The ticket prices range from 400 to 600 dinars, except for the opening and closing ceremonies, for which the ticket prices are 1000 dinars. The tickets are sold directly at festival locations and online.
