Cinema City is an international film festival held annually in Novi Sad, Serbia. During the eight days of the festival, Novi Sad becomes a festival city, with abundant film, music, and academic programmes. The programme concept consists of three segments: Cinema City Films, PRO, and Music, all of which are carried out across 10 city locations.
The festival includes various components, including film, music, and academic programming, which take place at more than 10 locations in Novi Sad.
Cinema City Films is particularly focused on young film authors from the country, the region and the world. Competition selections include National Class, which screens best domestic achievements; Up to 10,000 bucks, which screens low-budget films from all over the globe; and Fresh Danube Films, which presents choice selection of best debut and second films signed by authors from the Danube region. The film program also includes review selections, which every year honor different domestic and foreign directors and cinemas, Planet Rock selection for screening the best music documentaries, 360° for presenting the latest achievements of international indie production, Cinema City Shorts, and special screenings. Films by program selections
PRO selection for the Cinema City festival is intended for film authors and professionals from the country and region. Its objective is to support education, networking and cooperation between the people who are the present and the future of domestic and regional cinema. This selection combines two parallel directions of film production in Serbia: domestic film production and foreign production service. The PRO selection is composed of Cinema City Campus– an educational program for young film authors and professionals from Serbia and the region, and Cinema City Industry – a platform for networking between professionals and for raising issues of special significance for domestic cinema.
Cinema City Music is the part of the festival that organizes opening and closing parties, concerts and accompanying music events during the festival, which has so far seen some of the most important domestic and foreign DJs and musicians. A special segment of the music program is PLANET ROCK FESTIVAL, which is a result of cooperation between the Cinema City Association and HNS Creative. Planet Rock is an interdisciplinary festival, which aims to integrate several segments of alternative culture. The vision of this project is to provide an original film and music platform in order to generate the framework for positioning Novi Sad as a new, creative entertainment center that stimulates alternative and progressive authors. Cinema City Music
National class presents achievements of national cinematography and premieres. All the films from this selection are competing for Cinema City awards. The festival will be hosted to many domestic film authors and film crews.
Fresh Danube Films The main objective of Fresh Danube Films is to promote and support cultural diversity and creative synergy of cinematographies along Danube river. This program is a creative result of the last year project, which was supported by the European Cultural Foundation.
Up to 10,000 bucks encompasses films from around the world made with a budget of less than $10,000.
Since 2010, the Cinema City Festival has been organized independently by the Cinema City Association. The festival's Board of Directors and Council, as well as a number of associates and friends, work throughout the year to develop and organize the festival and other cultural projects. This festival is based on the concept of a festival city, which was introduced at the 2007 Serbian Film Festival. In 2008, Exit Association took over the festival's organization and made significant changes to the program concept. Cinema City grew into an international film festival in 2008 and 2009, and its scope, film program, and distinguished guests from all over the world make it an important cultural and film event for Serbia and the region. The Cinema City Association took over the organization of the Cinema City festival in 2010, and the festival is still being nurtured and developed in terms of concept and infrastructure.
Guests of the festival in 2008 and 2009 were Guillermo Arriaga, who won the award for best screenplay at Cannes in 2005, winner of the Tribeca Film Festival in New York – Lance Hammer, the first Serbian winner at Sarajevo Film Festival – Vladimir Perišić, as well as domestic and regional film icons such as Miki Manojlović, Goran Paskaljević, Emir Kusturica, Pjer Žalica, Despina Mauzaki, and others. A special guest of the 2010 Festival was the famous American actress and singer – Juliette Lewis, who performed with her bend at Cinema City music opening on June 5, 2010. Over 80,000 people visited Cinema City, and clear skies, warm weather, and quality program certainly contributed to a great number of visitors at open-air cinemas, which are one of the strongest points of the Cinema City festival. The audience was also greatly interested in the guest appearance of the Iraqi director, Mohamed Al-Daradji. Cinema City 2011 presented some of the most significant contemporary authors from the world of independent film. Guests of the Festival, in whose honor Cinema City organized screenings of a number of retrospectives, were the Hungarian director Béla Tarr, Lithuanian author Šarūnas Bartas, and Polish director Dorota Kędzierzawska. Cinema City played host to the Board of the European Film Academy and numerous directors, producers, screenwriters, actors, and film professionals such Nick Powell, Bruno Chatelin, Laurence Herszberg, Andreas Dresen, and many film stars from Serbia and the region. Domestic film authors also caused great interest, as well as young film artists, the future of domestic cinematography. Official website
Festival’s award Ibis, was named after a bird, whose habitat is in the Danube area not far from the festival’s base. According to folklore, Ibis is the last creature in the wild which looks for cover from bad weather, but is also the first to reappear after it, thus revealing itself as the messenger of beautiful weather. It is made by Serbian sculptor Nikola Pešić.
Grand Prix ("National class" program): "Circles" by Srdan Golubović
Best directing ("National class" program): Bojan Vuk Kosovčević "Whirlpool"
Best screenplay ("National class" program): Goran Marković and Tihomir Stanić "
Best actor ("National class" program): Nebojša Glogovac for his roles in "CIRCLES" and "ARTILLERYMAN"
Best actress ("National class" program): Dara Džokić "Whitering"
Special Jury Prize went to Kosta Đorđević, director of "Trolling", actress Hristina Popović ("Circles"), actor Nikola Rakočević ("Circles", "Trolling") and students from the Faculty of Drama Arts in Belgrade, Aron Sekel, Raško Milatović, Miloš Milovanović, Nemanja Vojnović, Petar Ristovski, Tea Lukač, Marko Đorđević and Luka Popadić for the screenplay and direction of "WHERE IS NADIA?"
Best film ("Up to 10,000 Bucks" program):"Either Words Nor Quiet" Dean Radovanović
Special Jury Prize for animated film ("Up to 10,000 Bucks" program): "Comeback" Jelena Oroz
Special Jury Prize to actors ("Up to 10,000 Bucks" program): Milica Trifunović and Mladen Sovilj "Real Good Paneling"
Audience Award ("Exit Point" program): "A Letter to My Father" Damir Čučić
Grand Prix ("National class" program): "Tilva Ros" by Nikola Lezaic
Best directing ("National class" program): Oleg Novkovic "White White World"
Best screenplay ("National class" program): Nikola Lezaic "Tilva Ros"
Best actor ("National class" program): Nikola Rakocevic "Skinning"
Best actress ("National class" program): Jasna Djuricic "White White World"
Best photography ("National class" program): Dusan Joksimovic "The Enemy"
Best editing ("National class" program): Aleksandra Milovanovic "Cinema Komunisto"
Best original score ("National class" program): Boris Kovac "White White World"
Best scenography ("National class" program): Zorana Petrov "The Enemy"
Best costume ("National class" program): Lana Pavlovic "The Enemy"
Special award ("National class" program): omnibus "October"
Best film ("Exit Point" program): "Kawasaki's Rose" by Jan Hrebejk
Best directing ("Exit Point" program): Bogdan George Apetri "Outbound"
Best actor ("Exit Point" program): Brian Brown "Limbo"
Best actress ("Exit Point" program): Ana Ularu "Outbound"
Special award ("Exit Point" program): "Cerro Bayo" by Victoria Galardi
Best film ("Up to 10,000 bucks" program): "March 9th" by Irena Skoric
Special recognition for the best acting performance ("Up to 10,000 bucks" program): Visnja Obradovic "Golden League"
Special recognition for socially significant documentary ("Up 10,000 bucks" program): "Trials, Tribulations & Sustainable Growth of a Cock" by Vladimir Perovic
Special recognition for a funny and provocative documentary ("Up to 10,000 bucks" program): "Reality, fuck off" by Nemanja Vojinović
Honorary Award for his outstanding achievement as actor: Bata Živojinović
Audience Award: "Cinema Komunisto" by Mila Turajlic
FIPRESCI jury awards:
the best feature ("Exit Point" program): "Tamara Drewe" by Stephen Frears
the best film ("National class" program): "How I Was Stolen by the Germans" by Miša Radivojević
FEDEORA jury awards:
film "The Enemy" by Dejan Zecevic ("National class" program)
film "Mothers" by Milcho Manchevski ("Balkan Box" program)