Belgrade Documentary and Short Film Festival Marks 60th Edition with Retrospectives and Lifetime Achievement Award
From April 2-6, 2013, the Belgrade Youth Center hosted the 60th Belgrade Documentary and Short Film Festival, one of the longest-running film festivals in Europe, established in June 1954 during the era of Socialist Yugoslavia. The festival's history is chronicled in a book by Dunja Jelenković titled 'The Short Film Fest – 60 Years' (2013). The event commenced with presentations from Dunav Film, featuring Puriša Djordjević's 'Children' (1962) and Želimir Žilnik's 'Little Pioneers' (1967). Žilnik was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award, and his video essay 'Pirika on Film' (2013) premiered. The competition showcased diverse genres, including prominent Serbian shorts, while special segments highlighted 'Russian Contrasts' and 'Angry Ukrainians,' with Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy's 'Nuclear Waste' (2012) taking home a golden medal.
Key facts
- The festival ran from April 2-6, 2013 in Belgrade, Serbia.
- It is one of Europe's oldest film festivals, founded in June 1954.
- Dunja Jelenković edited a volume on its history, 'The Short Film Fest – 60 Years'.
- Želimir Žilnik received the Lifetime Achievement Award.
- Aca Ilić's 'The Mallet' (1977) holds the record for most festival awards in Yugoslav production.
- Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy's 'Nuclear Waste' (2012) won a golden medal for best film.
- The festival included special programs on Russian and Ukrainian shorts.
- Competition sections covered fiction, documentary, animation, and experimental films.
Entities
Artists
- Greg de Cuir, Jr.
- Dunja Jelenković
- Puriša Djordjević
- Dušan Makavejev
- Želimir Žilnik
- Aca Ilić
- Aleksandar Petrović
- Marko Babac
- Dusan Vukotić
- Lordan Zafranović
- Frederik Jan Depickere
- Jari Kokko
- Artem Isaev
- Daria Orhan-Panchenko
- Alyona Alymova
- Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy
- Andrej Boka
Institutions
- Belgrade Documentary and Short Film Festival
- Belgrade Youth Center
- FEST Head Office
- Dunav Film
- Fontana Theater
- Belgrade Cultural Center
- FDU
- NECSUS_European Journal of Media Studies
- Alternative Film/Video Belgrade
- University of Arts Belgrade
- Faculty of Dramatic Arts
Locations
- Belgrade
- Serbia
- Yugoslavia
- Socialist Yugoslavia
- Finland
- Russia
- Ukraine
- Belgium
- Colombia