The 53rd International Film Festival FEST opens with the latest film by celebrated director Lordan Zafranović, “Golden Cut 42 (Children of Kozara)”, on October 2, 2026, at Sava Centar.
FEST audiences will have the opportunity to see this great artist’s work in its premiere screening at Sava Centar’s Blue Hall.
“Golden Cut 42 (Children of Kozara),” produced by TS Media, based on a 1986 screenplay by Arsen Diklić and Lordan Zafranović, depicts the suffering of children at the Jasenovac camp in 1942.
Amid the collapse of Yugoslavia in 1941, under the patronage of Nazi Germany, the Croatian fascist regime established the Independent State of Croatia, within which it founded Jasenovac — a death camp where men, women, and children were killed face to face with their executioners. Through the intertwined perspectives of victims and perpetrators, director Lordan Zafranović examines the anatomy of evil. Serbs, Jews, Roma, and Croatian anti-fascists perish at the hands of eight Ustaše killers. One of them briefly rebels, but he too becomes a victim of the evil he serves.
To depict the events of summer 1942 as faithfully as possible, an elaborate set was built across multiple locations in Serbia for this film. The production design was created by Milenko Jeremić, a legend of Serbian film design, who previously collaborated with Zafranović on the film “Occupation in 26 Pictures.” The creative and acting team, led by Zafranović, includes more than 100 actors and over 60 professionals from across the region.
Zafranović is a recipient of the “Belgrade Winner” award from the 51st FEST for his outstanding contribution to film art. Accepting the “Belgrade Winner,” director Zafranović remarked at the time: “This festival is a great celebration of film, and that’s why our responsibility as creators is immense — we make films for you, our audience, who have never stopped being just that. That’s why this award is dear to me, and I hope it isn’t the last,” Zafranović said, adding that he hoped to return to FEST with a new film — which is now happening.
Lordan Zafranović (b. 1944) is one of the most significant directors from this region, having recently marked 60 years in the profession. He spent his early childhood years with his mother and older brother as refugees in El Shatt, in the Sinai. He graduated in film directing from FAMU in Prague in 1971, in the class of Elmar Klos. His best-known feature film, “Occupation in 26 Pictures,” screened in competition at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival. He is considered one of the greatest masters of Yugoslav cinema, having devoted his entire life to the art of film and made roughly 80 films to date.
The 53rd International Film Festival FEST runs from October 2 to 11, 2026, returning to Sava Centar after 6 years, alongside other venues across Belgrade.
