The International Short Fiction Film Festival Bašta Fest will be held for the thirteenth time in Bajina Bašta from July 2 to July 5 this year. Under the slogan “Knock on Wood”, the festival will bring together twenty-seven films – from award-winning festival hits from around the world to Serbian productions that will have their premiere screenings under the open sky in Borići Park.
Among them is the world premiere of “Nevermind the Tears” by Sara Radulović, who previously participated in Bašta Fest’s industry program, Bašta Pitch, with this project. The film follows Filip, who is touring with his band and is torn between trying to look cool and winning over his first love.
Following its world premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, Serbian audiences will have the opportunity to see “Upon Sunrise” by Stefan Ivančić, a story about a single mother who loses her job and turns to petty scams in order to survive. Also premiering before a domestic audience is “Nightcap” by Đorđe Vojvodić, which tells the story of two young couples and childhood friends who reunite at their graduation party after many years, carrying with them numerous traumas and wounds that have yet to heal. After screenings in Ljubljana and Herceg Novi, director Ilija Petrović will present his film “The Day I Can’t Tell” at Bašta Fest, a touching coming-of-age story told from the perspective of a boy spending a day by the river with his uncle.
The festival will also host the Serbian premieres of films by young female filmmakers from the region who have continued their education and professional development abroad. “Malina” by Ana Blagojević is a French production set in a small Serbian village where Zora and Dragomir’s wedding is threatened by a secret that could ruin the celebration. Young director Aglaja Filipović, whose previous films have won numerous awards, will present her latest short film “Sound of Your Voice”, produced in the United Kingdom.
Audiences in Borići Park will therefore have the chance to see many Serbian stars on the big screen, including Milica Janevski, Miona Marković, Igor Benčina, Iva Ilinčić, Aleksandar Vučković, Nedim Nezirović, Marko Grabež, Denis Murić, and others.
The thirteenth edition of Bašta Fest will once again feature films that have achieved great success at prestigious festivals such as Cannes, Venice, Rotterdam, Locarno, Karlovy Vary, Sundance, and Tribeca. Alongside regional productions, the festival will present films from Iran, Cambodia, the United States, China, the Netherlands, Sweden, Greece, Austria, Norway, Spain, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, France, Belgium, Italy, as well as Cuba and Cyprus.
The entire program is divided into six thematic sections: System crasher, Family time, Boys speak, Concrete growing up, D-day, Voices of power.
“This year’s selection encompasses highly inspiring and diverse themes, marked by strong authorial and genre identities. In the case of young filmmakers, films often deal with coming of age, but this year we have a special focus on boys and their (un)spoken experiences during formative moments. It is also interesting that we have one section dedicated to specific dates and life events, ranging from a child’s first birthday to weddings and funerals, as well as another section that examines family relationships in various forms and the extremes they can reach,” said festival selector and co-founder Maja Šuša.
“The section I would particularly like to highlight is Voices of Power, which closes the competition program. It is composed of distinctive female voices, from young girls discovering that something in their families and social systems is not functioning properly, to deceased grandmothers who challenge and transform those very systems. As the title of one of the films suggests, these voices are real, and it is important that we listen to them”, Šuša added.
All short films in the competition will compete for awards presented by the main jury, including the Golden Imagination Award for Best Film, the Golden Interpretation Awards for Best Actor and Best Actress, and two Special Mentions. In addition, the Youth Jury will present its award for Best Film, while the regional Golden Visualization Award for Best Cinematography, presented in cooperation with rental company Cineplanet, will be decided by an individual professional jury.