The program of the 32nd Auteur Film Festival (FAF) has been announced, bringing 80 films across eight selections to Belgrade from November 20 to 27. The festival opens with Fjord, the new film by Romanian director Cristian Mungiu, and closes with Our Father by Goran Stanković. As previously announced, DSCENE is an official media partner of the festival.
Program Led by Contemporary Masters
At a press conference held at the mts Dvorana, the program was presented by Srđan Vučinić, artistic director of the festival, Stefan Ivančić, selector and member of the festival council, and Lena Bogdanović, communications and corporate social responsibility specialist at Erste Bank.
This year’s main program gathers work from some of the most significant authors working today, including Andrey Zvyagintsev, Mike Leigh, Cristian Mungiu, Hirokazu Kore-eda and Ryusuke Hamaguchi, alongside new names in world cinema. “A common thread in many of these films is their focus on family, closeness, feelings and emotional life, everything that modern civilization has suppressed or left without a voice,” said Vučinić. He also singled out 3 Weeks After by Miroslav Terzić and Our Father by Goran Stanković, two films that confront painful themes in Serbian society.
The Competition Program
The Competition Program presents 12 films from nearly every continent, mostly debuts and second features by filmmakers whose future work is eagerly anticipated. The lineup is marked by gender parity. Standout titles include Gradiva by French director Marine Atlan, Every Time by Austrian filmmaker Sandra Wollner, and By the End of the Day, the first feature by Jelena Maksimović, which centers on the student protests of 2024.
The selection also includes documentary and hybrid works. Among them is The Illusion of an Endless Summer by Argentine photographer Alessandra Sanguinetti, shaped by 25 years of documenting the coming of age of two girls in the Argentine provinces, as well as The Mountain by Biljana Tutorov and Petar Glomazić, which won an award at Sundance.
A three-member jury will decide the awards: director Ivana Mladenović, last year’s Grand Prix winner, Italian director Giacomo Abbruzzese (Disco Boy), and Stefan Đorđević, last year’s winner of the Best Director award for Wind, Talk to Me.
Jugosphere and Brave Balkan
This edition introduces a new selection, Jugosphere, dedicated to regional cinema. It will present eight feature-length and three short films, and for the first time the festival will award the Bekim Fehmiu prize for best acting performance. The winner will be chosen by actor Ulysses Fehmiu.
The Brave Balkan selection includes five feature-length and ten short films, five of them by domestic authors. Awards will be decided by Pavle Levi, Lyubov Mulmenko and Hamed Soleimanzadeh.
The festival runs November 20 to 27, opening with Cristian Mungiu’s Fjord and closing with Goran Stanković’s Our Father.
Erste Bank continues its support of the festival and, for the third time, presents the Believe in Yourself award, dedicated to a bold authorial voice in the Brave Balkan selection. “It is a great pleasure to continue our collaboration with the Auteur Film Festival, which has grown into a friendship over time and reflects our shared wish to support and preserve a space for culture, art and authorial expression,” said Lena Bogdanović. “Culture and art play a key role in the development of any society. They open important topics, question reality, encourage us to think from a different perspective, build understanding of difference and give space to voices that are heard less often. That is why support for culture should not be occasional, but built through long-term partnerships. The Believe in Yourself award is especially meaningful to us, as for the third year we aim to encourage young and less established authors to keep developing their authentic artistic expression.”
Genre, Premieres and Domestic Titles
The program also includes the Bande à part, Raw and Special Screenings selections, as well as the Adriatic Region Festival Network. In Raw, audiences can expect genre films with a strong authorial stamp, including the world premiere of Soap by Momir Milošević and the domestic premiere of Frost by Pavle Vučković.
“It is noticeable that this year we have an exceptionally large number of domestic titles in all selections,” said Stefan Ivančić. “On one hand, that is a sign of the vitality of Serbian cinema. On the other, it is a consequence of unfavorable circumstances that kept some of these films from being shown at other Belgrade festivals.“
Venues and Partners
The main festival venue will be the mts Dvorana, with screenings also held at the Belgrade Cultural Center Hall, the Yugoslav Film Archive, the Student City Cultural Center, the Kolarac Art Cinema and CineGrand Rakovica. Part of the program will also travel to Niš, Čačak and Šabac.
The festival is under the patronage of the Creative Europe MEDIA program. Its partners are Erste Bank, the Delegation of the European Union to Serbia, the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia, the Embassy of the Kingdom of Spain and the French Institute in Serbia.
What’s Next
The full program of the 32nd Auteur Film Festival is available at faf.rs. The next press conference will take place on Thursday, November 19, at 12:00, introducing the team behind 3 Weeks After by Miroslav Terzić, along with three young filmmakers, Tamara Todorović, Tara Gajović and Jelica Jerinić, whose films drew attention at this year’s Cannes and Berlin festivals. A press screening of 3 Weeks After will be held the same day at 10:00 in Hall 2 of the mts Dvorana.
As official media partner, DSCENE will follow the festival throughout its eight-day run.
