BELGRADE: Director Mladen Đorđević started shooting his fourth feature Labour Day / Prvi maj on February 19. The film is a major Serbian production with coproducers from Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro and Romania.
BELGRADE: The LA-based distribution company House of Film has acquired world distribution rights for the Serbian history drama King Peter the First / Kralj Petar Prvi directed by Petar Ristovski. The film, supported by Film Center Serbia, was Serbia’s bid for the Oscar race in the best international film category for 2019. The film will be dubbed into English.
BELGRADE: Film Center Serbia managed to maintain its standard pattern of financial support contests in full capacity for the fifth year in a row even during the pandemic-stricken year 2020.
BELGRADE: The Serbian thriller The Only Way Out / Jedini izlaz, helmed by Darko Nikolić, topped the local box office charts by a landslide. In its first weekend in cinema distribution, it pulled 18,386 admissions and grossed nearly 63,000 EUR / 7,388,129 RSD. In comparison, the runner up John D. Hancock’s crime thriller The Little Things scored 2,058 admissions (in its third week).
BELGRADE: The Berlin-based M-Appeal company acquired world distribution rights for the Serbian feature The Celts / Kelti ahead of its world premiere in the Panorama segment of the Berlinale 2021, set for the beginning of March. The film marks the feature debut of director Milica Tomović.
BELGRADE: The Serbian horror-thriller feature The Pond directed by Petar Pašić is scheduled to be distributed in the USA in February.
BELGRADE: Dara in Jasenovac / Dara iz Jasenovca, Serbia’s bid for the 2021 Oscars in the best international feature film category, will enter cinema distribution in the USA on 5 February 2021. The WWII drama directed by Predrag Antonijević will be distributed by Studio 101.
BELGRADE: The total cinema admissions in Serbia plummeted from 4,784,598 in 2019 to 1,562,590 in 2020, while total gross fell from 16.6 m EUR in 2019 down to 5.2 m EUR in 2020, as a result of the Covid-19 crisis. Cinemas in Serbia were closed from March until early September, and later on they operated with official restrictions regarding the working hours and the number of cinema-goers allowed.
BELGRADE: The 14th edition of the Kustendorf International Film and Music Festival will kick off on 22 January 2021 and run through 25 January via the online platform kustendorf.online. A total of 22 short films done mostly by young filmmakers are competing for the prizes this winter.
BELGRADE: The Ministry of Culture and Information of the Government of Serbia has taken charge of the country’s film and TV incentives programme. It was previously handled by the Ministry of Economy. The change was adopted through a Decree as of mid-January 2021.
