The official student selection of BlokadniFEST will feature student films from Serbia and the region. BlokadniFEST will be held in the liberated Students’ Cultural Center (SKC), as well as in several blocked faculties and other available venues.

On the Instagram page @blokadniFEST, students in blockade have invited students from Serbia and the region, regardless of their faculty, to apply via the email address: blokadnifest@gmail.com and send a link to their films. Each student can submit one film created in the last two years, and the competition is open until March 6, 2025.

Students in blockade have expressed doubts about the official explanation regarding this year’s postponement of FEST, which mentions resignations within the festival’s organization, security threats, and the potential politicization of the festival. For these reasons, they are replacing FEST with BlokadniFEST, emphasizing that it is “a necessary step in the fight against the systematic neglect and degradation of culture and yet another appeal to institutions to do their job.”

For the record: The International Film Festival FEST has been held in Belgrade since 1971. The first FEST took place from January 8 to 16 under the slogan “Brave New World” and was opened with Robert Altman’s film MASH*.

The blokadniFEST program is coming soon!