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Photo by Noom Peerapong on Unsplash
This article was developed within the program Venture an Idea funded by the USAID.
You look at movies in a different light. They're not just another form of entertainment and one more way to pass the time. For you, movies are a deep-seated exploration of the human condition presented in a visual language where every object and every shadow is carefully imbued with meaning. You relish every opportunity to catch the best new pictures and rarely see them only once.
If this sounds anything like you, then you're in luck.
This November will see not one but two major festivals of these, quote-unquote, different movies. Some lean more towards the art side of things; others sit firmly in the feature or documentary camp. The screenings will have you laugh, cry, and, above all, question the world around you.
The 2024 Free Zone Festival
Chances are that by the time you're reading this, the grand opening of the 20th Free Zone Fest—Belgrade's foremost engaged film festival—will have already occurred. Established in 2005, the fest screens over 30 feature and documentary films in dozens of cities nationwide, primarily in Belgrade, Novi Sad, and Niš. The films on screen come wreathed with accolades from some of the most prestigious fests in the world, such as the Festival de Cannes and Berlinale, among others.
At this year's Free Zone, you'll have the opportunity to catch Walter Salles' newest political drama, I'm Still Here (2024), the winner of Best Screenplay at the 81st Venice Film Festival. The movie follows the gut-wrenching story of activist Eunice Paiva, a mother of five whose congressman husband went missing during the heights of military dictatorship in Brazil.
Likewise, My Favourite Cake (2024) by Iranian filmmakers Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha features 70-year-old Mahin, a Tehran-based woman who decides to relive the romantic spark in a city where such desires are frowned upon, to say the least. The fest opens with Anora (2024) by Sean Baker, the winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes.
The 2024 Free Zone Festival takes place between November 6th and November 11th in several cinemas across the country. The majority of screenings will be subtitled in English.
The Belgrade Auteur’s Film Festival (FAF)
Belgrade's Auteur's Film Festival, or FAF for short, has a deep-rooted history of presenting the most accomplished documentary and artistic movie creations that have picked up some of the most prestigious auteur film awards in the world. Founded in 1994, the 30th edition of the fest will screen over 80 films in dozens of cinemas across Belgrade.
This year's special treat is Pedro Almodóvar, a Spanish filmmaker whose The Room Next Door (2024) opens the fest. Snatching the Golden Lion in Venice, the film—Almodóvar's first full-length feature in English—tells the story of two old friends, Ingrid and Martha, whose bizarre reunion brings unexpected drama to the fore. Similarly, David Cronenberg returns with The Shrouds (2024), a film about a widower who builds a machine that enables communication with the dead.
The festival opens on November 22nd and takes place until the 29th. In the meantime, you can catch the screenings of the ten most accomplished movies ever presented at the fest, as part of the FAF Before FAF section.
Bonus Content: Ljuba Popović at ARTE Gallery
It would be remiss of us not to mention an alternative visual experience. For this, we chose the newly opened show of works by Serbian artist Ljuba Popović, whose surrealist paintings dazzle with dynamic magnetism and profound imagination. The exhibition gathers the artist's works created during his 20-year stint in Paris, and takes place at the ARTE Gallery's new Terazije space.
This article is made possible by the support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents of this program are the responsibility of Nova Iskra and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government