The Film Residency will take place from October 14 to 19 and consists of a practical component guided by Serbian filmmaker Ivana Mladenovik, along with meet-and-greet sessions with directors, producers, and actors invited to the festival. The residents are young and emerging directors from several Balkan countries, including Turkey, Croatia, Moldova, and Romania. The residency promotes an intercultural and collaborative environment, providing opportunities to develop new ideas and enhance ongoing projects. It aims to support the creative process of Balkan filmmakers by helping them develop, write, film, edit, or otherwise promote their film projects. We hope this will lead to valuable connections, future collaborations, and greater visibility for the Balkan film industry.
Ivana Mladenovic is a Serbian filmmaker. After studying law in Belgrade, she moved to Romania, where she graduated from the Directing Department of the National University of Theatre and Film "Ion Luca Caragiale" (2010) and obtained a Master's in Film Directing (2011).
Her filmography includes: - *Milky Way* (2007), a documentary short selected for Vision du Reel, Astra IFF, Banja Luka FF, Kassel Documentary & Video Festival, and Rio de Janeiro Curta Cinema. - *Pizza Love* (2008), which won the Best Foreign Director Award at Porto Film Festival and was included in the official selection of Plus Camerimage Poland. - *Afterparty* (2009), awarded at the Student Film Fest Sofia (Best Directing Early Bird) and selected for the Tel Aviv Student Film Festival and Fresh Film Festival Prague. - *Skin* (2011), part of the official selection at Namur IFF. - *If 6 Was 9* (2013), a documentary produced during the Aristoteles Workshop, included in the Astra Film Festival selection.
This year's residents are Bogdan Alecsandru, Andreea Chiper, Gabriela Cozma, Tibor Durdev, Nela Gluhak, Cristina Jacot, Szatmári Loretta, and Ömer Faruk Sanlav.