The Main Competition Programme of the 49th International Film Festival - FEST, which takes place from May 7 to 16, organized by the Belgrade Festivals Centre - CEBEF in the Sava Centre, Kombank Hall, Belgrade Youth Centre and Cineplexx Galerija Belgrade, will include 18 films from 12 countries. In this selection, the audience will be able to see three domestic films: ’Oasis’ by director and screenwriter Ivan Ikić, ’The Living Man’ by director Oleg Novković, for which the screenplay was written by Milena Marković and the film ’Loan Shark’ by Nemanja Ćeranić, written by Strahinja Madžarević. The jury of the Main Competition Programme consists of actor Igor Đorđevic, director Dane Komljen, Greek director and screenwriter Zaharias Mavroeidis, actress Dubravka Kovjanić, and Bosnian director Ines Tanović.
Jugoslav Pantelić, Artistic Director of the Festival, spoke about the films in the Main Competition Programme: ‘There is not a small number of filmmakers that the FEST audience remembers, and whose films not so long ago competed at the Festival. Among the returnees are Dalibor Matanić, who is returning this year with the film "The Dawn", Greek director Argyris Papadimitropoulos, who was awarded the Belgrade Victor for Best Screenplay for the film "Suntan" at FEST only three years ago, and returns to Belgrade this year with the film "Monday". Also, I am very pleased that our guest from a couple of years ago, Susanna Nicchiarelli, who was present with the film "Nico, 1988" this year comes with the film "Miss Marx" which will introduce us to an interesting part of the life of Eleanor, daughter of Karl Marx. "Enfant Terrible" is a brilliant German film that deserves a perfect ten, and treats one very demanding topic - the life of Rainer Werner Fassbinder. It is a film that I really recommend, not to be missed. ‘
The Main Competition Programme will also include one of the Oscar candidates in the category of films outside the English-speaking world, for Best International Feature Film - the Tunisian film ‘The Man Who Sold His Skin’, which has Sam Ali as the protagonist, a young, sensitive and impulsive Syrian, who left his country and fled to Lebanon to escape the war. In the film directed by Kaouther Ben Hania, one of the lead roles is played by the famous actress Monica Bellucci, the guest of the FEST Opening Ceremony in 2017.
Hungarian director Lili Horvát was a guest with the film ‘The Wednesday Child’ (Szerdai gyerek) in 2016, and now her latest film ‘Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time’ will be screened as part of the FEST programme about neurosurgeon Marta who falls in love, leaves a brilliant career in America and returns to Budapest to start a new life with her partner. Danilo Šerbedžija presented his film ‘The Liberation of Skopje’ (Osloboduvanje na Skopje) with his father Rade in the lead role at FEST in 2017, and now his award-winning film ‘Tereza37’ is coming to the Festival, in which 37-year-old Tereza from Split is reconsidering her routine marriage and changing her life, in the spirit of the newly acquired freedom.
The film ‘Sun Children’ by the famous director Majid Majidi, one of the most important names in Iranian and world cinema, will also be shown at FEST, in which 12-year-old Ali and his three friends do small jobs and petty crimes to survive and support their families. Audiences will also be able to watch the films ‘Night of the Kings’ (La Nuit des rois) by French director Philippe Lacôte, about a young man sent to prison in the middle of Ivory Coast, the Argentine film ‘The Hunter’ (El Cazador) by Marc Berger, which talks about the problem of sexual manipulation and exploitation among teenagers, the American comedy ‘Palm Springs’ about the relationship between the carefree Niles and the reluctant bridesmaid Sarah, the Italian film ‘Bad Tales’ (Favolacce) by Damiano and Fabio D'Innocenzo about the atmosphere of alienation in a small family suburb on the outskirts of Rome, and the film ‘Kids Run’ by German director Barbara Ott about the protagonist’s constant battle for his children and the woman he still loves.
The film ’Oasis’ by director and screenwriter Ivan Ikić premiered last year at the prestigious Venice Film Festival, where it won the award for Best European Film (Label Europa Cinemas) in the Venice Days section, presented by the Europa Cinemas network. The film follows three teenagers in a Serbian institution for children with disabilities. ’The Living Man’ is the latest film by the esteemed director Oleg Novkovic, for which the screenplay was written by Milena Marković. The story follows a Belgrade rocker and former member of the cult band ‘Sinovi’ Igor Djelic-Djela, played by Nikola Đuričko, who realizes that he wants to change his life and maybe even try to correct some mistakes from the past. The film ’Loan Shark’ by Nemanja Ćeranić, written by Strahinja Madžarević, deals with one day in the life of a loan shark in a small town in Serbia. The Main Competition programme of FEST will also include two minority Serbian co-productions. The film 'Deadlock’ directed by Vinko Möderndorfer (Slovenia, Serbia, Northern Macedonia), which will have its world premiere at FEST, follows two married couples from the opposite ends of the social scale, which, at first glance, seem to have nothing in common. At the centre of the plot of the film ‘You Know Him’ by Ercan Kesal (Turkey, Serbia) is Kemal, who is preparing the election campaign gala dinner hoping that the head of the party will announce his candidacy for mayor.
The International Film Festival - FEST will be held this year in compliance with all measures of the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the COVID-19 Infection Disease Crisis Response Team. The priority for the organizing team of the Festival is the health and safety of the audience, the guests and the Festival team.
Information about the programme and ticket sales for the 49th International Film Festival - FEST can be found on the Festival website: https://www.fest.rs/
