If there were happier times, we would now be buying tickets for the next 53rd FEST, but this February, at the traditional time for the biggest international film festival of the capital and the country, all that is known about the next FEST is that it will be postponed.
And nothing else, not even whether the films were selected for the 53rd Fest. Because there is no one to choose them.
Without selector
Jugoslav Pantelić's current selector and artistic director's mandate expired at the end of last year's Fest, and a new selector has not been appointed. It is expected that the "new Yugoslav" will be Ivan Aranđelović, editor of the Film Program of the Cultural Center of Belgrade, moderator of press conferences at the Palić European Film Festival, as well as at the Fest.
Jugoslav Pantelić was a selector for ten years, and he left without even the implied gesture of gratitude from the founders of the Fest, the City Assembly, and the Festival's Board of Directors.
Board of Directors on break
The board of directors met the other day for the first time in a year.
A few months ago, the member of the Board of Directors, the Dean of the Faculty of Dramatic Arts, Miloš Pavlović, resigned, and Ksenia Zečević's term expired. The new members are the director of the Sava Center, Kristina Milinčić, and the long-term producer of the Fest, Darja Bajić. The President of the Board of Directors has been the same for the second year, Nataša Mihailović Vacić, Secretary for Culture of the City of Belgrade.
It is not known whether the final report of last year's Fest was adopted at the last session.
It is only known that the new date of the Festa has been decided.
Postponement
In a telephone conversation with Nedeljnik, the city secretary said that "there was no voting" at the meeting, but also that "the Board of Directors agrees that it would be best to postpone the festival, so that it does not collapse further."
It is not clear on what basis Mihailović Vacić concludes that Fest is collapsing.
She only said that "there was discussion about moving the Fest, respecting the reality we live in and with the aim of protecting the festival which should not become anything other than what it is - a film festival, a place to see new films, a place for culture and art".
"It is a manifestation that includes the largest number of participants and spectators, so the safety of all those people cannot be guaranteed," she explained.
It was learned that the proposed dates are the end of March or the beginning of April, in any case before the Festival in Cannes, but again unofficially and thanks to the media.
There is no official information about the 53rd Fest.
Fest like Bitef
It is impossible to predict how the future selector will organize the festival in a short period of time.
Let us remind you that two years ago, Nataša Mihailović Vacić and the City Government had the same attitude towards Bitef. If their intention was to erase it, they did not succeed, so we should believe that the Fest will survive.
