Free zone film festival is created out of belief that a good film experience can last much longer than its screening time and that it can provide access to alternative depiction of reality. This festival showcases films that are eye-opening and often leave their viewers with the feeling of freedom and responsibility that comes with being an active citizen. In these cases the art of film can actually make a difference.
Free Zone is not only an increasingly popular annual film festival, but also a part of a broader initiative that runs throughout the year.
Next festival edition: 07 - 13 November 2013
A special category has been introduced, a category for young, talented authors and their works in the selection of the movies with the budgets of $10,000 and up to $10,000. Attention to young talents includes the presence of top lecturers from film area, organized seminars and constructive dialogues. The programme concept of the festival covers film and academic programme, which take place at more than 20 locations in Novi Sad, including indoor and outdoor cinemas.
Film programme presents film selections of domestic and foreign production, along with competitive selections and numerous retrospectives. Over 150 films, more than a hundred premieres are shown at indoor and outdoor locations. The festival presents awards for domestic, international and low-budget films.
Academic programme - Cinema Now Live Academy - includes more than 30 panels, with participants from more than 10 countries. Within this programme, film artists, theoreticians, critics, and representatives of film industry discuss many significant subjects related to film art and film industry.
Next festival edition: 26 August - 01 September 2013
During seven days of the festival, Belgrade audience will get a chance to see Sophia Fiennes’ premiere screening of The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology, which will open the festival on November 7 at 20.00h at the Cultural Center of Belgrade Movie Theatre; Destin Cretton’s Short Term 12, which delighted both audiences and critics around the globe; Ritesh Batra’s Lunchbox in which a slight confusion results in a huge miracle that leads to an unexpected friendship and love between two complete strangers.
The Free Zone will also present the latest film signed by the renowned British director Ken Loach – The Spirit of ’45. In these troublesome times this films stands as a reminder to a great dream of better and more just society in Britain after World War II. Former national figure skater, Andrei Griazev won audiences across the world with his directorial skills in Tomorrow, in which he follows one of the most provocative art group “War” and their radical actions and performances that tread the fine line between art and crime.
In their film Good vibrations, directorial duo Lisa Barros D'Sa and Glenn Leyburn bring a true story about a man who, even after the bloody conflicts that took place in his hometown of Belfast during the seventies, continues to believe that punk rock can change the world.
This year the festival will focus on sensitive issues of the LGBT community. The programme Outside the Walls will screen two remarkable films: Stranger by the Lake, for which its director Alain Guiraudie won the award for Best Director within Un Certain Regard selection at Cannes, and Vincent Dieutre’s Jaurès, which tells a story about the eponymous Parisian quarter and man’s aspiration to reconcile emotional with political within him.
Once again, certain films (Jaurès, Tomorrow and Harmony Lessons) will give rise to Late Night Conversations at the Free Zone, during which we will deal with issues pointing out to entire regions of repression that gnaws away at our society: invisible people (LGBT population, migrants) whose attempts at becoming visible cause violence after violence that is, in its impotency to deal with contemporary challenges, caused by the community itself through its institutions (school, police) which should be there to strengthen it; as well as strategies for resisting injustice, which more often than not are dispersed even before they shape themselves into resistance.
As it was last year, the moderator will be Ivan Milenković, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Third Programme of Radio Beograd.
This year our guest is FID Marseille, one of the most prestigious festivals in the world. It will present its best titles of this year, premiering with Mati Diop’s winning film A Thousand Suns. A special guest will be Jean-Pierre Rehm, director of the festival, who we will also hold a master class. It will be a chance for film authors, journalists and students of film academies to familiarize themselves with current tendencies in independent documentary film-making and festival policies. The official programme of this festival also included Stefan Ivančić's Springtime Suns and Dane Komljen's Tinz Bird, which will also be screened as part of this selection.
The Free Zone will remain the gathering place of the best documentary film-makers from the region, and so Belgrade audience will be able to see Srđan Keča's Escape, Petra Seliškar's Mama Evropa, and Nebojša Slijepčević's festival hit Gangster of Love.
Last year’s guest selector, Dubravka Ugrešić, greatly contributed to the programme of the festival, and this year that task is entrusted to Veton Nurkollari, programme director of one of the most significant festivals in the region – Dokufest from Prizren, who will present Kosovo film production, which is completely unknown to our audience.
As part of the Fresh Danube Films project, Belgrade audience will have a chance to attend the premiere of feature film Where Is Nadia? signed by eight students of the Faculty of Drama Arts from Belgrade, as well as excellent Croatian achievement A Letter to My Father, signed by Damir Čučić. The project itself has the objective to strengthen and support the production and promotion of young debuting authors from this region, through programmes of partner festivals, such as Crossing Europe from Linz, Cinema City from Novi Sad and DORF from Vinkovci.
As is tradition, the audience will vote on the best film of the festival which will win the Audience Award, and the jury comprising Boban Jeftić (director of film programme at Dom Omladine), Srđan Mitrović (MTV Serbia) and last year's winner of the best review, Gavrilo Petrović, will present the Award to the Audience for the best review of a film screened at the Free Zone.
Below is the Free Zone programme that will be screened in Novi Sad:
Monday, November 11
18:00 Lunchbox
(roles) Ritesh Batra, India/France/Germany/USA, 2013, 104’
20:00 The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology
(doc) Sophia Fiennes, Great Britain/Ireland, 2012, 136’
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Tuesday, November 12
18:00 Harmony Lessons
director Emir Baigazin, Kazakhstan/France/Germany, 2013, 120’
20:00 Jaurès
(doc.) director Vincent Dieutre, France, 2012, 83’
Late Night Conversations – (following the film Jaurès)
Topic: Migrants in our lives
Participants:
Aleksandra Bosnić Đurić, culturologist, Cultural Institute of Vojvodina
Zoran Paunović, literary theorist, professor at the Faculty of Philology
Editor and moderator is Ivan Milenković, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Third Programme of Radio Beograd
—
Wednesday, November 13
18:00 Tomorrow
(doc.) director Andrei Griazev, Russia, 2012, 90’
20:00 Tomboy
(feature) director Céline Sciamma, France, 2011, 82’