17th Edition of Beldocs Opened Last Night with the Premiere of Warm Film

Special sections dedicated to New York’s Union Docs and Czech Cinema

Beldocs, the boutique Eastern European film festival focusing on non-fiction cinema, opened last night with the regional premiere of Dragan Jovićević’s Warm Film, fresh off its world premiere at the Thessalonikki DFF. The film explores the topic of representation of LGBTIQ characters through the history of Yugoslav and later Serbian cinema, but also social circumstances that have resulted in different treatment of these characters.

The current, 17th edition Beldocs, will be held in Belgrade, Serbia 22-29 May, 2024. The program will boast 103 films, among which 13 World, 1 European, 59 Regional and 24 Serbian premieres, as well as 23 developing projects in different phases of production. The unique and daring films by both renowned and young authors from all over the world make this year’s selection powerful and nuanced. This year’s festival video has been directed by Luka Papić, the winner of the 2022 Beldocs Grand Prix for the film Without.

 

The International Competition will include the European premiere of Dreaming Dogs by Elsa Kremser & Levin Peter, Sundial by Liis Nimik, Once Upon a Family by Sead Šabotić, La Reine

Nikola Klinger, In Silence and Clamour by Clément Roussier & Hadrien Mossaz, Mud by Ilya Povolotsky, Rising Up at Night by Nelson Makengo, Kumva – Which Comes from Silence by Sarah Mallégol, Tedious Days and Nights by Guo Zhenming and Tzipora and Rachel Are Not Dead by Hadar Morag.

The Serbian Competition will consist of 12 feature-length and short films. In addition to the opener Warm Film, the section will also present the Cinema du reel selections The Garden Cadences by Dane Komljen and Walks That Won’t Happen by Mina Simendić, Visions du reel selection Exit Through the Cuckoo’s Nest by Nikola Ilić, How To be Slobodan? By Nikola Polić, Prison Beauty Contest by Srđan Šarenac, The Tempest of Neptun by Katarina Stanković, Novi Sad Remembrance by Aleksandar Reljić, Joymakers by Jelena Radenović, When I Grow Up Again by Jovana Avramović, Minel by Tara Gajović and Heterotopia by Nikola Nikolić.

Union Docs will be honored with a prograam titled Artistic Differences, while a special focus section in collabortion with the Ji.hlava IDFF will feature the best of contemporary Czech documentaries.

This year’s special section, guest curated by the philosopher Srećko Horvat, will have the theme of Survival Is Not Enough, and include panels, talks and lectures by participants such as Franco Berardi and Federico Campagna.

The non-competitive sections Fireworks, Meteors, Prime Time and Breeze will include latest works by Guillaume Cailleau, Ben Russell, James Benning, Frederick Wiseman, Steve McQueen, Ruth Beckermann, Mati Diop and Travis Wilkerson among others.

 

Thanks to numerous partnerships with international and European film festivals as well as numerous international audiovisual industry contributors, Beldocs positions itself as the main audio-visual industry hub in this part of Europe and its importance as a festival places it not only on the European but on the international festival map. This is supported by the following active content: Beldocs Industry Days, Connecting Futures, Beldocs Teen, Mini Doc, and others.

Beldocs Industry Days is dedicated to encouraging new contacts, collaborations, and co-productions among film professionals from Western Balkan countries, Baltic States, Post-Soviet Media, South Caucasus countries, and Western Europe in order to further the distribution of European audiovisual works. Beldocs Industry Days 2024 will feature training and project development workshops for young talents, public presentations of documentary film projects at the Beldocs Pitching Forum, panels, masterclasses, and matchmaking sessions, as well as the operation of the Beldocs Market video library, to achieve this goal.

At the Beldocs Pitching Forum 20 documentary film projects in various stages, from development to post-production, will be presented to a group of international industry representatives – TV channels, festivals, sales agents and distribution companies.

In addition to the Beldocs Pitching Forum, we hold the Producers Meet Producers networking event, Play.Docs serious video games program , as well as two workshops aimed at developing film projects – Beldocs XR Academy, which focuses on virtual reality and augmented reality projects, and Balkan Young Talents, which focuses on promising young filmmakers from the Western Balkans region.

We offer a number of industry panels and masterclasses with an emphasis on independent movie theaters and documentary film curating as part of the Beldocs Market, which this year will bring together over 150 guests, both filmmakers and industry representatives.

Beldocs team considers diversity as one of the basic principles of society and aspires to allow access to screenings and accompanying events to everyone. Therefore, both the official festival website and program catalog provide information about the program’s accessibility to sensitive groups.

Beldocs is carried out with the support of the European Union through the Creative Europe MEDIA, the Republic of Serbia Ministry of Culture and Information, EU Delegation to Serbia, Central European Initiative, Film Center Serbia, Film Center of Montenegro, Embassy of Spain, Goethe Institute, Austrian Cultural Forum, Polish Institute, French Institute, Collegium Hungaricum, Czech Centre Belgrade, Ji.hlava IDFF, Al Jazeera Balkans TV, DOX TV, Current Time TV, as well as Insajder TV.

 

FULL LINEUP:

SERBIAN COMPETITION

How To be Slobodan?

Nikola Polić — Serbia — 2024 — 62′

Prison Beauty Contest

Srđan Šarenac — Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia — 2024 — 80′

The Garden Cadences

Dane Komljen — Germany — 2024 — 62′

The Tempest Of Neptun

Katarina Stankovic — Serbia, Croatia, Poland — 2024 — 64′

Novi Sad Remembrance

Aleksandar Reljić — Serbia — 2024 — 77′

Joymakers

Jelena Radenović — Serbia — 2024 — 46‘

When I Grow Up Again

Jovana Avramović — Serbia — 2024 — 22′

Minel

Tara Gajović — Serbia — 2024 — 15’

Heterotopia

Nikola Nikolić — Serbia — 2024 — 7′

Exit Through the Cuckoo’s Nest

Nikola Ilić — Switzerland, Serbia — 2024 — 19′

Walks That Won’t Happen

Mina Simendić — Serbia — 2024 — 7′

Warm Film

Dragan Jovićević — Serbia — 2024 — 92′

 

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION

Sundial

Liis Nimik — Estonia — 2023 — 65′

Once Upon a Family

Sead Šabotić — Montenegro — 2024 — 67′

La Reine

Nikola Klinger — Czechia — 2023 — 60′

In Silence and Clamour

Clément Roussier, Hadrien Mossaz — France — 2023 — 58′

Mud

Ilya Povolotsky — Russia — 2023 — 51′

Rising Up at Night

Nelson Makengo — Germany, Burkina Faso, Belgium, Qatar, Democratic Republic of the Congo — 2024 — 96′

Kumwa – Which Comes from Silence

Sarah Mallégol — France — 2023 — 108′

Tedious Days and Nights

Guo Zhenming — China — 2023 — 110′

Tzipora and Rachel Are Not Dead

Hadar Morag — Israel — 2023 — 102′

Dreaming Dogs

Elsa Kremser, Levin Peter — Austria, Germany — 2024 — 77′

 

FIREWORKS

Le Saboteur

Anssi Kasitonni — Finland — 2022 — 12′

Handful of Dirt

Izabela Zubrycka — Poland — 2023 — 13′

Pelikan Blue

Laszló Csaki — Hungary — 2023 — 79′

Motherland

Alexander Mihalkovich, Hanna Badziaka — Norway, Sweden, Ukraine — 2023 — 96′

Cyborg Generation

Miguel Morillo Vega — Spain — 2024 — 63′

Crumb

Terry Zwigoff — USA — 1994 — 120′

Queendom

Agniia Galdanova — USA, France — 2023 — 98′

Empty Rooms

Zhenia Kazankina — Russia — 2023 — 6′

Future Me

Vincent Boy Kars — The Netherlands — 2024 — 97′

The Last Summer

Vitaly Akimov — France, Russia — 2024 — 80′

Split Ends

Hannah Koselj Marušič — Slovenia — 2024 — 15′

A Tree Grows in My Dreams Every Night

Vid Hajnšek — Slovenia — 2024 — 56′

Solar Noon

Fredj Moussa — Tunisia, France — 2022 — 11′

METEORS

Direct Action

Guillaume Cailleau, Ben Russell — Germany, France — 2024 — 216′

Socialist Realism

Raul Ruiz, Valeria Sermiento — Chile — 2023 — 78′

How I Became a Communist

Declan Clarke — Ireland, Germany — 2023 — 55′

Like a Sick Yellow

Norika Sefa — Kosovo* — 2024 — 23′

*All references to Kosovo, whether the territory, institutions or population, in this text shall be understood in full compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 and without prejudice to the status of Kosovo.

Blue

Violena Ampudia — Cuba, Belgium — 2023 — 17′

exergue – on documenta 14

Dimitris Athiridis — Greece — 2024 — 848′

I, You, He, She

Chantal Akerman — Belgium, France — 1974 — 86′

Lichens Are the Way

Ondřej Vavrečka — Czechia, Slovakia — 2024 — 42′

Intercepted

Oksana Karpovych — Canada, France, Ukraine — 2024 — 95′

Breathless

James Benning — USA — 2023 — 86′

BREEZE

Knin – Zadar

Melita Vrsaljko — Croatia — 2023 — 15′

Body

Petra Seliškar — Slovenia — 2023 — 92′

Arsenie. An Amazing Afterlife

Alexandru Solomon — Romania — 2023 — 96′

Nice Ladies

Mariia Ponomarova — Ukraine, The Netherlands — 2024 — 80′

Fairy Garden

Gergö Somogyvári — Hungary — 2023 — 83′

School for Hope

Yana Alexieva — Bulgaria — 2024 — 82′

2720

Basil da Cunha — Portugal, Switzerland — 2023 — 25′

Ksenia

Renāte Saulīte — Latvia — 2023 — 21′

You Idiot

Andrija Tomić — Croatia — 2023 — 10′

SURVIVAL IS NOT ENOUGH

Occupied City

Steve McQueen — The Netherlands, United Kingdom — 2023 — 266′

TerraForma

Kevin Brennan, Laurence Durkin — Ireland — 2023 — 62′

My Stolen Planet

Farahnaz Sharifi — Germany, Iran — 2024 — 80′

Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat

Johan Grimonprez — Belgium, France, The Netherlands — 2024 — 150′

Life and Other Problems

Max Kestner — Denmark, Sweden — 2024 — 99′

Hardly Working

Total Refusal — Austria — 2022 — 21′

How to Disappear

Total Refusal — Austria — 2020 — 21′

Red Redemption A Brute Marxist Crash Course

Total Refusal — Austria

PRIME TIME

Menus-Plaisirs Les Troisgros

Frederick Wiseman — USA — 2023 — 240′

Hollywoodgate

Ibrahim Nash’at — Germany, USA — 2023 — 91′

The Mother of All Lies

Asmae El Moudir — Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar — 2023 — 98′

A New Kind of Wilderness

Silje Evensmo Jacobsen — Norway — 2024 — 84′

A Family

Christine Angot — France — 2024 — 82′

Agent of Happiness

Arun Bhattarai & Dorottya Zurbó — Bhutan, Hungary — 2024 — 94′

In the Rearview

Maciek Hamela — France, Ukraine, Poland — 2023 — 84′

Kamay

Ilyas Yourish, Shahrokh Bikaran — Afghanistan, Belgium, Germany, France — 2024 — 109′

Favoriten

Ruth Beckerman — Austria — 2024 — 118′

Dahomey

Mati Diop — France, Senegal, Benin — 2024 — 67′

1489

Shoghakat Vardanyan — Armenia — 2023 — 76′

Three Promises

Yusef Srouji — Palestine, Lebanon, USA — 2023 — 60′

Magic Mountain

Mariam Chachia, Nik Voigt — Georgia, Poland — 2023 — 74′

Immortals

Maja Tschumi — Switzerland, Iraq — 2024 — 94′

Through the Graves the Wind is Blowing

Travis Wilkerson — USA, Croatia — 2024 — 84′

FOCUS CZECHIA: ECHOES OF JI.HLAVA

Czech Dream

Filip Remunda, Vít Klusák — Czechia — 2004 — 90′

I Am Not Everything I Want to Be

Klára Tasovská, Lukáš Kokeš — Czechia, Slovakia — 2024 — 90′

The Sound Is Innocent

Johana Ožvold — Czechia, France, Slovakia — 2019 — 68′

Bedwetter

Jan Hušek — Czechia — 2023 — 61′

Is There Any Place for Me, Please?

Jarmila Štuková — Czechia — 2023 — 77′

La Reine

Nikola Klinger — Czechia — 2023 — 60′

Photophobia

Ivan Ostrochovský, Pavol Pekarčík — Czechia, Slovakia, Ukraine — 2023 — 71′

UNIONDOCS – ARTISTIC DIFFERENCES

This

Terrorismo de Autor — Spain — 2023 — 73′

TEEN

Maydegol

Sarvnaz Alambeigi — Iran, Germany, France — 2024 — 73′

Dear Dad

Austė Urbanavičiūtė — Lithuania — 2024 — 17′

Number One

Milda Augustaitytė — Lithuania — 2023 — 15′

How to Disappear

Total Refusal — Austria — 2020 — 21′

Copa 71

James Erskine, Rachel Ramsay — United Kingdom — 2023 — 90′

Eternal You

Hans Block, Moritz Riesewieck — Germany, USA — 2024 — 87′

KIX

Dávid Mikulán, Bálint Révész — France, Croatia, Hungary — 2024 — 94′

SPECIAL SCREENINGS

Emily Dickinson: Three B’s

Vlada Petrić — Serbia, USA — 2024 — 51′

Garden

Bojan Tanturovski — North Macedonia — 2024 — 74′

The Last K.O

Timothée Catherine — France — 2024 — 70′

Meadows Wait, Mist Diffuses

Dzhovani Gospodinov — Luksemburg — 2024 — 17′

Bekim Fehmiu

Valmir Tertini — Albania — 2023 — 67′

The House in Kraljevec

Pero Kvesić — Croatia — 2023 — 88′

Sister

Zulfikar Filandra — Germany, Bosnia and Herzegovina — 2024 — 20′

Anori Inuit Windsled

Carlos Pitarch — Spain — 2023 — 83′

Combi-nation

Jugoslav Nikolić — Serbia — 2024 — 47′

King of Trumpets

Vladimir Kajlovic — Serbia — 2024 — 80′

Film Changed the World

Darko Bajić, Siniša Cvetić — Serbia — 2024 — 92′

XR EXHIBITION: IMMERSIVE REALITY

Shadowtime

Sister Sylvester, Deniz Tortum — The Netherlands — 2023 — 18′

Comfortless

Gina Kim — USA, South Korea — 2023 — 16′

From the Main Square

Pedro Harres — Germany — 2022 — 19′

PLAY.DOCS SHOWCASE

Red Redemption A Brute Marxist Crash Course

Austria — Total Refusal

Let Bions Be Bygones

Serbia — 2024/2025 — Console: PC

Sewing of Discontent

Croatia — 2023 — Console: PC

Split Decision

Croatia — In Production — Console: PC

The Hallway

Germany, Poland, Australia, Spain — 2025 — Console: PC