A remarkable cinema experience awaits the visitors of Novi Sad, Serbia, from 16th to 23rd of June. Noni Sad transforms itself into a Cinema City filled with a variety of film selections, music concerts and entertainment programs.

The entire city of Novi Sad will become a complex that includes a concert stage, special events, discussion panels and nine cinema theaters. Five indoor and four outdoor cinemas will host the nine film sections, four of which are competitive. The selected sections are:

National Class (competitive)

Educons Hungry Days (competitive)

Exit Point (competitive)

Up to 10,000 Bucks (competitive)

360°

Respect to Andreas Dresen

Focus Hungary

MTV presents: Burn Planet Rock

Special Screenings

The four juries are composed specific for each of the four competitive sections. National Class jurry is formed by directors Laurence Herszberg, Davide Manuli, Lorena Pavlic, scriptwriter Mary Nazari and cinema critic and theoritician Martin Schweighofer. While in Educons Hungry Days directors Joao Pedro Rodrigues, Zvonimir Juric and filmmaker Santiago Fillol will anounce the the Best Film of the section. In Exit Point director Fridrik Thor Fridriksson, Mira Staleva, journalist Will Tizard and film critic and author Jean Roy will define the award wining film. Lastly the jurry of Up to 10,000 Bucks will be composed by the directors Rajko Petrovic, Irena Skoric and journalist Nevena Matovic.

The National Class is a section for Serbian film productions such as The Parade, Clip  and Practical Guide to Belgrade with Singing and Crying. It hosts a number of Serbian filmmakers and crews, where they will present their latest work  and compete for the following awards: Grand Prix, Best Directing, Best Screenplay, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Original Music, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design.

Educons Hungry Days will present a first preview of an international selection of films. Its film will compete for the Hungry Days Best Film Award. The Exit Point is the section for international film productions. It will host film productions of all genres from across the globe like Unfair World and Good Night, Missy. Filmmakers distinguished in worldwide film festivals for their work will compete for the Exit Point Best Film Award.

The most innovative competitive section of the festival is Up to 10,000 Bucks. In this section short films with genres from the entire cinematographic spectrum and a budget of Up to 10,000 dollars will compete for the Best Film Award that includes money prize, Best Serbian Film and Best Hungarian Film.

And that`s only a warm up, what the other five sections can offer to the audience is nothing less than their competitive counter-parts. A retrospective of the German director Andreas Dresen will be hosted in Respect  Andreas Dresen. The 360° section will host international indie film productions praised by the audience world wide, such as Konstantin Bojanov`s Avé. While Focus:Hungary will familiarize the audience with the work of Hungarian filmmakers. The original MTV presents: Burn Planet Rock will preview biographical documentaries of music stars and bands that draw public attention. Seven Special Screenings, that include Archeo, Narcissus and Echo and The Face of a Revolution, along with the Projections Schedule can be viewed here.

The events of Cinema City though don`t  confine in the theater`s screens. In the center of Novi Sad, Petrovaradin Fortress will be “entrenched” with music bands and artists ready to give a spectacular show everyday. Parallel to these events there will be more than thirty panels composed by participants from more than ten countries. The discussions on significant subjects  related to film arts and film industry, will be coordinated by film artists, theoreticians and representatives from the film industry.

Cinema City offers support to the new talents that want to get involved with the film industry. Cinema Now is a program dedicated to the new wave of Serbian filmmakers, comprised of three integral parts: Up to 10.000 bucks, Educons Hungry Days and CineYouth. CineYouth is a platform made up of a series of interactive contents – interviews, panel discussions and workshops in cooperation with SAE Institute Belgrade, designed for young creative filmmakers who wish to apply their talents in the field of cinematography. It will provide enough room for meetings, introductions, exchange of contacts and developing cooperation between filmmakers, representatives of other film festivals and institutions of different generations and countries. View Master Classes Schedule of Cinema Now: Live Academy.

The reasons to include Novi Sad in your summer destinations are more than enough. The 5th edition of Cinema City International Film Festival launches on 16th of June and for eight days until 23rd it will be the talk of the Balkan. For more information visit the Cinema City International Film Festival Home Page.