The first Film Festival of Serbia will be held from July 3rd to July 8th 2007 in Novi Sad, in the production of Film Center Serbia and State of Exit. The idea to establish the Film Festival of Serbia was the result of the need for an event of national significance which would establish criteria for quality films as well as promote acknowledged film authors and their work in the context of national film. As Serbia has not yet had a representative film festival, the Film Festival of Serbia has been conceived as the most important promotional event of domestic film, whose main goal is to be a meeting point between international and local film production and art at the highest level.

Cinema City

The festival promotes a new program concept dubbed Cinema City – the city as a film theater. The central area of Novi Sad will be transformed into a festival arena, as the festival programs will be presented at several locations throughout the city, such as Serbian National Theater, Arena film theater, open stage of the Catholic Port, Sloboda Square, Miletićeva Street, Zmaj Jovina Street, Laze Telečkog Street, as well as many others. Over the course of the festival, the city will be peppered with festival gates, info points, concert stages and openair projections.

Danubius Film Fund

The Festival will be host to many guests who will contribute to the increase in both supply of and demand for Serbian film: representatives of various film funds, producers, distributors, selectors of significant
international festivals, experts who can contribute to the advancement of production, distribution and representation of national networks. One of the most important results of these meetings is the establishment of the Danubius Film Fund through which Serbia, for the first time, becomes the initiator of an important instrument for the development of film industries in Danube countries. The aim of the Fund is to gather representatives of all important film funds and centers from the Danube countries, specially those from Austria and Germany.

Competition program and festival prizes

National Class
National Class is the main competition selection of the festival, which will present works completed in the period between the two editions of the festival. This program is of competitive character and it will
cover all film genres. The movies from this selection will be premiered at the Serbian National Theater in Novi Sad, while additional screenings will be taking place at the open-air cinema of the Catholic
Port and the Arena film theater.

IBIS - Festival prize

The festival prize is dubbed the “Ibis” and is awarded in 14 competition categories, among them the festival Grand Prix, as well as 3 non-competitive categories. The Ibis prize was named for the bird
whose natural habitat is in the Danube area, not far from the festival site itself. In local folklore legends, the ibis is the last representative of wild nature that seeks shelter when the weather becomes foul, and
the first one to emerge after the threat is gone. Accordingly, the Film Festival of Serbia in its first year thus announces the arrival of new, better times for Serbian film. A jury consisting of five members, two from foreign countries, one from the region and two from Serbia, will award films from the competitive selection in the following categories:

• Best Film - Festival Grand Prix
• Best Director
• Best Screenplay
• Best Photography
• Best Music Score
• Best Actor
• Best Actress
• Best Male Support Act
• Best Female Support Act
• Best Editing
• Best Sound Design
• Best Set Design
• Best Costume
• Best Mask

Besides the awards in the competition selection, the following will be awarded outside of the competition:

• Audience Award
• Life Achievement Award

Festival program

Beside presenting the complete annual cycle of production of domestic feature film and distributing a plethora of awards within the National Class competition program, the Festival will also have accompanying
program selections. Among many of them, the selection of Euroimages films merits special attention. It is dedicated to the latest European film co-productions. Beside the aforementioned program units, the audience will have a chance to see a film retrospective dedicated to one of the members of the jury, as well as a Tribute to Kusturica - a retrospective of films by Emir Kuturica.

Furthermore, numerous musicals, a retrospective of films by the laureate of the Life Achievement Award, as well as a selection entitled Focus on a Genre, Direction or Movement in Serbian Cinema will be screened. As the first Film Festival of Serbia mostly addresses national film heritage, the selection of the most significant Serbian films from the past stands out as especially interesting.

Besides the film program, the festival will also try to animate the audiences via numerous workshops, seminars and film promotions as well as presentations of distribution companies and cultural centers – as they relate to film. The festival will also be accompanied by a Fair of Film Publications, where many publishing projects from Serbia and the region will be presented, giving the visitors a chance to glance at various CD, DVD or literary publications related to cinematic topics. The festival will also offer a rich musical program, through numerous performances of various artists.

The musical program will be stylistically diverse, and will largely follow the film atmosphere of the festival.
FILM FESTIVAL OF SERBIA
July 3rd – 8th 2007
Novi Sad
Serbia
www.filmskifestivalsrbije.org