In this year's Main Competition Programme of the 52nd edition, the FEST International FilmFestival will show 17 films from all over the world, including co-productions from Brazil, Chile, Taiwan, Ivory Coast, Qatar, Russia, Switzerland, France, Argentina, Luxembourg, Mauritania, the USA , but also Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, as well as films from Germany, Spain, China and Israel.
The films from the Main Competition Programme will have their premiere in the MTS Hall and the Cultural Centre of Belgrade, and this year as many as three Serbian films are competing for the Belgrade Victor, as well as two minority Serbian co-productions. Films by directors who have already been awarded at FEST are competing as well, and there is a possibility that this year's Belgrade Victor winner will be the seven-day old winner of the Berlinale.
The German film ‘Stella: a Life’ (Ein Leben) by Kilian Riedhof is included in the competition programme. The audience will be able to see this drama about the Holocaust starring Paula Beer on 24 February (Cultural Centre of Belgrade, 5 p.m.), 25 February (MTS Hall, Hall 6, 7 p.m.) and 26 February in the Yugoslav Film Archive (Makavejev Hall, 1.30 p.m.).
Brazilian Karim Aïnouz will present his latest film, a British-American co-production ‘Firebrand’, starring Alicia Vikander and Jude Law, among others. The film has been screened at numerous festivals, and it won the Gold Hugo at the Chicago Film Festival and the Grand Prix at the Jerusalem Film Festival. Director Aïnouz is an award winner at the Belgrade FEST. His film ‘Invisible Life’ (A Vida Invisível) received the Belgrade Victor for Best Film in 2020. The producers of ‘Firebrand’ are Gabrielle Tana and Carolyn Marks Blackwood. The film will be shown on 25 February (MTS Hall, Hall 1, 7.30 p.m.), 26 February (MTS Hall, Hall 1, 12 p.m.), 26 February (Cineplexx Galerija, Hall 7, 7 p.m.), 27 February (Cineplexx UŠĆE Shopping Centre, Hall 1, 7.30 p.m.) and 28 February (Cineplexx Galerija, Hall 5, 5 p.m.).
French-Belgian co-production ‘Rosalie’ by Stéphanie Di Giusto is coming to FEST after the festivals in Cannes and San Sebastian. The film will be screened on 28 February (Cultural Centre of Belgrade, 5 p.m.), 29 February (MTS Hall, Hall 6, 11.30), 1 March (Yugoslav Film Archive, 1.30 p.m.) and 3 March (Belgrade Youth Centre, 8 p.m.).
Yuri Bykov, who in 2015 won the Jury Prize in the Main Competition Programme of FEST for the film ‘The Fool’ (Durak), is coming this time with his thriller ‘The Owner’, a Russian- French-Swiss co-production. The audience can see it on 28 February (MTS Hall, Hall 1, 7.30 p.m.), 29 February (MTS Hall, Hall 1, 12 p.m.), 29 February (Cineplexx Galerija, Hall 7, 7
p.m.), 1 March, (Cineplexx Ušće, Hall 1, 7.30 p.m.) and 1 March. (Yugoslav Film Archive, 9 p.m.).
The British-Palestinian-Qatari co-production ‘The Teacher’, about a Palestinian teacher with a risky commitment to political resistance, was directed by Farah Nabulsi. The film will be screened at FEST on 27 February (Cultural Centre of Belgrade, 5 p.m.), 28 February (MTS Hall, Hall 6, 7 p.m.), 29 February (Yugoslav Film Archive, 1.30 p.m.) 1 March (Belgrade Youth Centre, 8 p.m.).
For the Chinese drama ‘The Breaking Ice’ (Ran dong), director Anthony Chen received an award at the Denver International Film Festival. The film will be shown on 2 March at the Cultural Centre of Belgrade (5 p.m.), 3 March at the Yugoslav Film Archive (Makavejev Hall, 6.30 p.m.) and the MTS Hall (Hall 2, 4.32 p.m.).
Xavier Legrand's thriller ‘The Successor’ (Le successeur) is a co-production of France, Canada and Belgium. It will be screened on 25 February (Cultural Centre of Belgrade, 7.30 p.m.), 26 February (MTS Hall, Hall 6, 7 p.m.), 27 February (Yugoslav Film Archive, 1.30 p.m.) and 27 February (Cineplexx Ušće, Hall 1, 5 p.m.).
The Spanish director Isabel Coixet will present her drama ‘Un Amor’ at FEST, and the audience will be able to see it on 29 February (Cultural Centre of Belgrade, 7.30 p.m.), 1 March (MTS Hall, Hall 6, 7 p.m.), 2 March (Yugoslav Film Archive, 4 p.m.) and 3 March (Belgrade Youth Centre, 8 p.m.).
This year, in the Main Competition Programme of FEST, the longest film since the programme was founded ten years ago will be shown, and that is the Argentinian thriller ‘The Delinquents’ (Los delincuentes) by Rodrigo Moreno, which lasts as long as 189 minutes. Until this year, the title for the longest film was held by ‘The Painted Bird’ (Nabarvené ptáče) (169 min), which competed for the Belgrade Victor at FEST four years ago and brought Czech director Václav Marhoul the Best Director award. The co-production of Argentina, Luxembourg, Brazil and Chile will be screened on 2 March (Cultural Centre of Belgrade, 7.30 p.m.) and 3 March (MTS Hall, Hall 6, 11.30 a.m.).
The Israeli drama ‘The Vanishing Soldier’ by Dani Rosenberg received Best Cinematography from the Israeli Film Academy, and it was named Best Film at the Haifa International Film
Festival. The audience will be able to see it on 29 February (Cultural Centre of Belgrade, 5 p.m.), 1 March (MTS Hall, Hall 6, 4.30 p.m.), 2 March (Yugoslav Film Archive Museum, 1.30 p.m.) and 3 March (Belgrade Youth Centre, 5.30 p.m.).
The competition film ‘Black Tea’ is a drama directed by Abderrahmane Sissako, shot as a co- production of France, Mauritania, Luxembourg, Taiwan, Ivory Coast, and it is coming to FEST after the Berlin Film Festival, where it is screened only three days before its screening at FEST, and, if everything goes well, there is a possible winner at both festivals, the dates of which have almost overlapped for several years. ‘Black Tea’ will be screened on 25 February (Cultural Centre of Belgrade, 5 p.m.), 26 February (Belgrade Youth Centre, 5.30 p.m.), 28 February (Yugoslav Film Archive, 4 p.m.) and 29 February (Cineplexx Galerija, Hall 5, 2.30 p.m.).
Among the films competing for the main awards are two films made as co-productions of Croatia and Serbia: ‘Only when I Laugh’ (Samo kad se smejem) and ‘The Holy Family’ (Sveta porodica).
The drama ‘Only when I Laugh’ directed by Vanja Juranić brought the leading actress, Tihana Lazović, the Golden Arena at the Pula Film Festival, and, in addition to Lazović, the cast
includes Slavko Sobin, Jasna Đuričić, Marina Redžepović, Iva Jerković, Mirela Brekalo and others. The film will be shown on 26 February (MTS Hall, Hall 1, 5 p.m.), 27 February (MTS
Hall, Hall 1, 9.30 a.m.), 27 February (Cineplexx Galerija, Hall 7, 4.30 p.m.) and 28 February (Cineplexx Ušće, Hall 1, 5 p.m.).
In the drama The Holy Family’, by Vlatka Vorkapić, the cast includes Luna Pilić, Ivan Čuić, Nikola Đuričko, Anita Matić Delić, Judita Franković Brdar, Aleksandar Cvjetković, among
others. The audience can see the film on 1 March (MTS Hall, Hall 1, 5 p.m.), 2 March (MTS Hall, Hall 1, 9.30 a.m.), 2 March (Cineplexx Galerija, Hall 7, 16.30 p.m.) and 3 March
(Cineplexx Ušće, Hall 1, 5 p.m.).
The Hungarian-Romanian drama about the literature teacher at the secondary school ‘Without Air’ (Elfogy a levegő) by Katalin Moldovai is coming to FEST. This drama will be screened on 26 February (Cultural Centre of Belgrade, 7.30 p.m.), 27 February (MTS Hall, Hall 6, 7 p.m.), 28 February (Yugoslav Film Archive, Makavejev Hall, 1.30 p.m.) and 29 February (Belgrade Youth Centre, 8 p.m.).
Among the domestic films, there are three titles that are in the race for the Belgrade Victor: ‘Working Class Goes to Hell’ (Radnička klasa ide u pakao) by Mladen Đorđević, ‘Lilacs’
(Jorgovani) by Siniša Cvetić and ‘That’s It for Today’ (Za danas toliko) by Marko Đorđević, which FEST has already announced. ‘Working Class Goes to Hell’ is another film by Mladen Đorđević that will be shown at FEST, and it is a co-production of Serbia, Greece, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Croatia and Romania. In Đorđević's dark drama, the cast includes: Tamara Krcunović, Leon Lučev, Momo Pićurić, among others. The audience can see the drama on 24 February (MTS Hall, Hall 1. 7.30 p.m.), 25 February (MTS Hall, Hall 1. 12 p.m.) and 26 February. (Cineplexx Ušće, Hall 1, 7.30 p.m.). ‘Lilacs’, directed by Siniša Cvetić and written by David Jakovljević, portrays the face and reverse of the film and TV industry in Serbia today. The actors in the film are Sloboda Mićalović, Ivan Bosiljčić, Gordan Kicić, Mima Karadžić, Nebojša Dugalić, Nenad Okanović and others. The film will be shown on 27 February (MTS Hall, Hall 1, 7.31 p.m.) and 28 February (MTS Hall, Hall 1, 12 p.m. and Cineplexx Galerija, Hall 7, 7 p.m. and Hall 5 at 10 p.m.).
In the film ‘That’s It for Today’, directed and written by Marko Đorđević, the actors are: Filip Đurić, Ivana Vuković, Nikola Rakočević, Goran Bogdan and others. The film will be screened on 1 March (MTS Hall, Hall 1, 7.30 p.m.) and 2 March (MTS Hall, Hall 1, 12 p.m. and Cineplexx Galerija, Hall 7, 7 p.m.).
