Well-known Serbian director and screenwriter Miroslav Lekić will be a special guest at this year’s International Film Festival i-Fest 2025, which is being held in Calabria, Italy. His artistic oeuvre, marked by deeply engaging themes such as trauma, identity and historical contradictions, has for a long time been attracteing attention of international audiences and film experts.
Lekić will introduce himself to the festival audience with the film The Russian Consul on Saturday, September 13th at 8 p.m., in the Aragonese Castle in Castrovillari. On that occasion, he will be presented with an award for the most significant foreign director attending the festival. In addition to him, the special guest of i-Fest will be Oscar-winning director Thomas Wittenberg. The event is organized by the Calabria Film Commission in collaboration with the Italian Film Institute and under the auspices of the Italian Ministry of Culture.
As the festival organizers pointed out in the announcement, “Lekić’s style, often marked by a gloomy atmosphere and strong poetics, forces the audience to deeply question reality and history. His film works, often marked by a dark atmosphere and suspended narratives, invite the viewer to face difficult but essential realities, making each of his films a deep emotional and reflective experience. The author of films such as Knife (1999), Labyrinth (2002) and The Russian Consul – who was chosen as the Serbian candidate for the Oscar in the category of best international film in 2024 – Lekić has established himself as one of the most intense voices of contemporary Serbian cinema.”
Organized with the contribution of the Film Commission of Calabria and the Municipality of Castrovillari, under the artistic direction of the winner of the Venice Critics’ Week Award, director Antonio La Camera, and composer Francesco Sotile, the i-Fest Film Festival is a global celebration of short film, creativity and cinematic storytelling. For the past six years, it has seen10,205 registered short films submitted, while more than 102 countries have showcased their films with 94 officially selected short films, 15 Italian premieres, 79 awards, 47 special guests, and 6 partner festivals throughout Italy.
Guided by the slogan SEE THE FUTURE, the festival wants to present the authors of the future: directors who are capable of making films, which can reflect their innermost soul and their personal view of the world.
Photo: i-Fest