33rd Film Screenplay Festival

By:Valentina Radulovic

Vrnjacka Banja, Aug.11,2009, (Serbia Today)- Film Screenplay Festival in Vrnjacka Banja is one of the oldest and most respectable film events in the region, a place where the annual national film productions are being evaluated, with special focus on the screenplays. The organizer of the festival is Center of Culture, Vrnjacka Banja”
This year’s Festival started on August 8th, and ends on August 12th . There will be 10 films of national production participating in the competition. On the opening night the film ‘Wait for me, it’s sure I won’t come’ by screenwriter and director Miroslav Momcilovic was shown, and on the closing night the audience will have a chance to see the film ‘Djavolja varos’ by director Vladimir Paskljevic.
There are three awards for best screenplays. The audience will see the premiere of the film ‘The heart of wise is in the house of sorrow’ by Marin Malesevic. In the competition program will be shown ‘Somebody is still waiting for me’ by Marko Novakovic, ‘There and here’ by Darko Lungulov, ‘Belgrade’s Phantom’ by Jovan Todorovic and others.
In the category ‘Young lions’ there will be shown ten short students’ films, in Vuk Pavlovic’s selection. This program is also competitive for the past two years.
On this festival, 14th time in a row, will be organized the ‘Summer School of Film Dramaturgy – Slobodan Stojanovic’. It will be attended by ten students from Belgrade film schools, Academy of Art from Novi Sad and University of Drama from Cetinje.
Besides the gala screenings in the 2000 seats open-air amphitheater, and in cinemas; besides press conferences, exhibitions and presentations of new books on film – two of the unique features of this festival are the ‘Symposium on Film and Screenwriting’ and the ‘Film Screenplay Workshop’. This year, the subject of the Symposium is ‘Stiv Tesic – America is far away’. About this Oscar winner from Serbia, some eminent film workers will talk and the program will include special retrospective of his work.
Even today, it is still the only Film Festival in Europe of its kind.