115 films from 50 countries were shown. The organizer says he is satisfied. And yet, the impression is that only Lordan Zafranović and his "Golden Cut 42 (Djeca Kozare)" were at this Fest.
This year's Fest hasn't even started, and the result of the festival is already obvious: the film was cut short, Zafranović's masterpiece seems to be of no interest to anyone, and the divisions have deepened.
Due to threats from Croatian ultra-rightists, Zagreb actors will not come to the opening of the Fest on the occasion of the premiere of Lordan Zafranović's film "The Golden Ratio 42 - Children of the Goats", and due to solidarity with them, neither will some Belgrade actors
The most important thing is that Bitef was held in an institution, says Jelena Medaković, Secretary of Culture of Belgrade, she expects that the Fest will mark a new beginning for this festival, as well as that 2026 will pass successfully as far as the festival is concerned.
We can say that this October the Fest will still be held: more than 100 films from 54 countries have been selected, and it will be opened by the premiere of Lordan Zafranović's "Golden Cut 42 (Djeca Kozare)" at the Sava Center
Dragan Jeličić, the selector of this year's Fest, says that the Festival Board has adopted the program that he proposed to them, and he hopes for a good one. In order to achieve this, he insists that both parties leave the politicization of FESTA
Dragan Jeličić, the Fest selector, says that the program of this festival, which will be held in October, has been completed, while the four films during the two-day Fest intro in February will be the announcement of the 53rd and not the 55th Fest, as it should have been, if there had not been an "impermissible break" of two and a half years.
"There was no competition, and we didn't want to get the city's help based on someone's discretion," says Igor Stanković, one of the initiators of the first Belgrade Film Festival, which starts on January 30.
The former members of the Fest Board learned about the change from the press release of the Secretary of Culture, and they doubt that without a professional strategy and analysis of past mistakes, further development of the manifestation will be possible.
The Government of Serbia has appointed conductor Bojan Suđić as acting director of the Belgrade Philharmonic. "Vreme" unofficially learns that the orchestra is not at all happy with this choice and will take appropriate measures
At the session of the Belgrade City Assembly, 56 officials were appointed to management positions in cultural institutions and events. So now Lazar Ristovski is on the Festa Board, and the president is Jelena Medaković, Secretary for Culture of Belgrade
The festival remake in February, the introduction of festival artistic directors, fairer distribution of the budget, are some of the announcements for 2026 by the secretary of culture of Belgrade, Jelena Medaković
The experience of 2025 allows for the fear that there will probably not be some usual festivals this year, and that holding most of them is questionable
"This is a new festival, and it has nothing to do with Festa, nor is it its replacement," says Igor Stanković, one of the initiators of the Belgrade Film Festival, which will show the latest mainstream titles from January 30 to February 6.
The Serbian co-production The Disappearance of Josef Mengele became part of the FAF program instead of the Fest. Producer Miloš Đukelić describes this film by Kirill Serebrenikov as a universal story about a crime of conviction, which we justify with a higher goal.
Secretary of Culture Jelena Medaković believes that the next Fest should be held in February, and that the Bitef festival has no legal basis to be held this year. At the same time, Miloš Lolić is preparing the guerilla Bitef for December
This year's 59th Bitef should start in about fifteen days, and the Fest in less than a month and a half. However, they are silent about them. It seems like they are waiting for time to run out for them
The new secretary of culture of the City of Belgrade, Jelena Medaković, announces the changes in the atmosphere in culture this "inconvenient year", and believes that Bitef and Fest should be helped to remain great festivals
The 57th Bemus is in progress, but Bitef and Festus are silent. What is Bemus' recipe? The president of the Bemus Committee says that the festival received the same budget as Fest and Bitef
If the City Assembly agrees, the Fest will be held from December 21 to 28. It would be the only way to forget about everything that is hindering the realization of this year's edition
At the last meeting of the Fest Board, Miroslav Mogorović, adviser for the program concept, and Ivan Aranđelović, associate in program selection, were elected. The only thing missing is for the City Assembly to decide who will be the producer, so that the concrete implementation of this year's Fest can begin
September will be the month of festivals in Belgrade this year: Fest, Bitef, March Festival, "Seven Magnificent"... Unless the City Assembly decides that some of them will take a break this year
The changes to the rules of the city's cultural manifestations, which were announced by the City Assembly back in March, are unlikely to be implemented. Will there be time to implement them until September when Bitef and Fest start, that is, will they be held at all
The Assembly of the City of Belgrade appointed board members for the seven main festivals in the city. Dušan Kovačević heads the Fest Board
After the postponement of the traditional Fest, students in the blockade decided to hold their own film festival - Blockade Fest. What did the students prepare for the visitors of the festival from March 9 to 16
The Fest international film festival has been postponed, and this March the students are organizing a blockingFEST
"Vreme" has learned that, like the Fest, this year's March Festival will not be able to take place as scheduled. The reason is the same: the City Assembly did not do its part
