The 13th Bašta Fest takes place from July 2 to 5; in addition to numerous film screenings, visitors to Bajina Bašta can look forward to a diverse side program.

Intending to further support young filmmakers, the festival is once again organizing its successful Bašta Pitch program. In previous years, this program has supported several short films, including Tara Gajović’s “Over the Threshold”, which was screened at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival this year. Furthermore, Bašta Pitch served as a springboard for Sara Radulović’s film “Nevermind the tears”, which will have its world premiere at this year’s Bašta Fest.

This July, work will be done on the following projects within the Bašta Pitch program: “Our Friend David” by director Ana Đurović and producer Mina Leontijević (Serbia); “The First Bullet” by director Marko Vukotić and producer Iva Milivojević (Montenegro, Serbia); “Through the Teeth of Ana and Her Mom” by director Đorđije Petrović and producer Katarina Putić (Montenegro, Serbia); “Two Peach Juices” by director Lora Džolić and producer Miona Đenesijević (Serbia); and “Wolves” by director Milan Nasković and producer Milan Šćepanović.

Throughout the festival, the participants will work with film professionals and mentors—director Raško Miljković and producer Milan Stojanović. A jury comprising director Vladimir Tagić, Prof. Dr. Vladimir Đurđević, and festival founder Maja Šuša will decide which project wins the award for best presentation.

Given that the natural landscape of Western Serbia is integral to Bašta Fest’s identity—and that themes such as environmental conservation have been present since the festival’s inception—this year’s Bašta Pitch will incorporate an added environmental dimension. Specifically, the creative teams behind the selected films will work with the Green Art Incubator team, consisting of Prof. Dr. Vladimir Đurđević (Faculty of Physics, University of Belgrade) and Tijana Mićanović from the Bašta Fest team.

Together with these young teams, they will explore ways to make the filmmaking process itself as green and sustainable as possible, as well as how film and cultural production can evolve in harmony with the surrounding natural environment.

This project is supported by the YOU(th) CARE for Change program—co-funded by the European Union (EU DEAR program)—which aims to empower young people from 12 countries to actively contribute to addressing global challenges.

As for the musical segment of the program, visitors to Bajina Bašta can look forward to four thematically distinct evenings; film enthusiasts will move from the Borići Park to the nearby Rača Beach, where the parties that Bašta Fest is famous for will take place following the film screenings.

Savo Božović will play the music for the opening night, while the well-known Keskse will take over the following day. Saturday night at Bašta is reserved for the fan-favorite “Čola Night,” featuring hits by the greatest Yugoslav pop star, while the festival’s closing on July 5th will be marked by a performance from the Funk Technik Group.