47. International film festival FEST will be held in Belgrade from February 22. until March 3. 125 films will be screened during festival, and besides movies that are originally in English, FEST has made sure that all movies in two competition programs will have English subtitles. These films will be screened in the newly renovated cinema Kombank dvorana in the heart of Belgrade, as well as some other cinemas across town.
The Main competition program will screen 17 features from all over the world. Ralph Fiennes will receive an honorary Belgrade victor and present his third directorial feat- White crow, a biographical movie about a Russian ballet dancer who famously fled the Soviet Union in the midst of Cold war. The Bra is a silent romantic comedy about a train driver who goes on a quest to reunite a blue lace bra that his train snagged with its rightful owner. Pedro Almodovar produced The Angel tells the tale of the most infamous Argentinian serial killer, a baby face psychopath nicknamed the Black Angel. Actor Paul Dano steps behind the camera in Wildlife, a beautifully observed study of an American family coming apart at the seams.
Gaspard Ulliel stars in a European art film addition to the Vietnam war movie genre- To the ends of the world. In Factory, a promising Russian director Yury Bykov examines a scenario in which factory workers rebel against a wealthy oligarch who tries to close it down. Star studded Hotel Mumbai (Dev Patel, Armie Hammer, Jason Isaacs) is based on a real life terrorist attand follows the employees and attackers entangled in the drama. Oscar nominated Capernaum by Lebanese director Nadine Labaki is a touching social drama about a young boy who sues his parents for the crime of being born. The Dark room is an Iranian drama that follows a concerned father who tries to find a man who sexually abused his little son. The Eight Commissioner is a long awaited novel adaptation about the most remote island in Croatia which struggles to accept the commissioners that the government sends them. Slovenian youth run amok in Consequences, a gay themed drama about a teenager who ends up in a youth detention center. The Quietud by Venice best director winner Pablo Trapero is an intense drama with thriller elements that focuses on an insanely close relationship of two sisters. Romantic dramedy A Faithful man sees actor Louis Garrel both behind and in front of camera in a very New Wave-ish tale of love, sex, death, adultery and picturesque Paris streets, and The Double lives is a French dramedy set in the Parisian publishing world.
The program Serbian film (Serbia and friends) will screen both local films as well as films co-produced with Serbia. Stitches is a long awaited drama that premiered in Berlinale and sheds light on a hot topic of infant abduction from Serbian hospitals. Also fresh from Berlinale main competition is the German-Serbian film I was at home, but. Aleksi is hailed as the first Croatian movie for millenials, and Cutting close is a coming of age story of the troubled Serbian teenage girls. Seasoned Serbian director Goran Marković adapts his successful esixtential crisis drama Delirium Tremens for the big screen, and recently deceased director Dušan Makavejev gets a tribute in a documentary titled The Makavejev case or trial in a movie theater. Dragan Marinković also returns to directing with an adaptation of David Albahari’s book Leeches.
Several debut features are sure to leave a mark- a hilariously daring zombie comedy Last Serb in Croatia, a Serbian mystery thriller Dogs die alone, and a Montenegro family drama Neverending past. Social drama Erased follows a turbulent period in Slovenia after the break up of Yugoslavia when a number of citizens were simply erased from the system. All alone follows a man who is indeed alone in his fight against the system and a better life for himself and his daughter, and From love follows a man who tracks down his girlfriend who disappears a week before their wedding.
