The 51st Belgrade International Film Festival, FEST, ran from February 24th to March 5th.
Described by its organizers as “one of the most important festivals on the continent and a pillar of Belgrade’s cultural life”, this festival has screened many international films since it was created in 1971. Film-makers like Theo Angelopoulos, Bob Rafelson and Volker Schlöndorff have presented their films there. This year’s edition brought together more than 100 films in six different selections.
In the category for experienced film-makers, “FEST masters”, Puriša Djorđević’s Mouth Full of Earth won the Best Serbian Film award. Djorđević recreates his own childhood and life through the main character, Marko. Mouth Full of Earth was Mladomir Puriša Djordjević’s last film. He died in 2022 aged 93.
In the Main Competition, the Best Euro-Mediterranean Film award went to a French, Belgian and Moroccan co-production, The Damned Don’t Cry by Fyzal Boulifa. In the same category Nina Ognjanović’s Where the Road Leads (Serbia) won Best European Film and the Turkish, German and Serbian co-production, Snow and the Bear by Selcen Ergun won the Nebojša Djukelić award for Best Local Film.
The complete list of winners is available on the festival web-site.
Sources: FEST
