Film Center of Serbia and the Association for Education Exchange between China and Serbia have selected films that will be shown at 13 universities in China from May 8th until the end of the semester as part of the “Living Heritage – Serbian Film Festival” program. The repertoire includes five productions from the 1960s and 1970s, nine recent Serbian productions, as well as one foreign animated film made in Serbia.

The audience will have the opportunity to see the films Innocence Without Protection (Dušan Makavejev), Two (Aleksandar Petrović), Girl (Mladomir Puriša Đorđević), Return (Živojin Pavlović), “Holiday” (Đorđe Kadijević). South Wind (Miloš Avramović), The Common Story (Gordan Kicić), Dara from Jasenovac (Predrag Gaga Antonijević), Father (Srdan Golubović), As Far As I Can Walk (Stefan Arsenijević), Merry Christmas, Yiwu (Mladen Kovačević), Why Did Dragan Gather His Band (Nikola Spasić), Bullets Over Marseille (Gordan Matić) and Prince of the Seas (Carla Marie Rey, Maxime Martins), a high-quality animation produced in Serbia.

By naming the festival “Filling the Void”, we want to show Chinese students – future film professionals- the diversity of themes, authorial styles, different approaches to meeting the expectations of viewers, creative challenges, reflections on everyday life and reality, in these films.

In Serbia, between twenty and thirty films are produced annually – feature films and a smaller number of documentaries. In a country of seven million inhabitants with, according to its size, a significant production predominantly supported by Film Center Serbia (with rare exceptions when the film is financed independently of the support of either this institution or the main national mobile operator), each of the 14 films is representative.

This statement is not an excuse for a possible failure in the selection, but a confirmation that the films were selected from the whole in order to present the development thread of the Serbian film from the famous 1970s New Serbian film, which was replaced by the even more famous “Czech School” in the 1980s, to the latest generation of authors who they reap praises and fame both at home and in the world.

Support for film production in all its stages, preparation and implementation of a strategy in the field of film, promotion, raising interest in co-productions and technical services, education and development of film culture at home and abroad, are some of the basic, important goals for FCS. In this sense, and with the great support of the Association for Education Exchange between China and Serbia, FCS wants to present a living film heritage that influences filmmakers in Serbia today, exceptional films from the past and challenges of productive and well-known authors not only in Serbia but also beyond. This film program, held at 13 Chinese universities, in 13 cities and 13 provinces, comes right before the Cannes Film Festival, the most important film festival in the world, where the new Serbian film Lost Country by Vladimir Perišić will be shown in the official program of Critics’ Week.

The hosts of the event are: Communication University of China (Beijing) Shanghai University, Shanghai Film Academy (Shanghai) Chengdu Neusoft University (Chengdu, Sichuan Prov.), Communication University of Zhejiang (Hangzhou, Zhejiang Prov.), Nanjing University of the Arts (Nanjing , Jiangsu Prov.), Anhui Normal University (Wuhu, Anhui Prov.), Inner Mongolia Normal University (Hohhot, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Reg.), Xizang Minzu University (Xianyang, Shaanxi Province.), Lanzhou University of Arts and Sciences (Lanzhou , Gansu Prov.), Qinghai Normal University (Xining, Qinghai Prov.), Ningxia University (Yinchuan, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Reg.), Xinjiang University (Urumqi, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Reg.), and Haikou University of Economics (Haikou, Hainan Prov.).

Guests of the festival are: Mileta Poštić, special advisor to the Ministry of Culture of Serbia, Gordan Matić, Film Center Serbia director, Miroljub Vučković, consultant for international relations and promotion of the Film Center of Serbia, Sanja Poštić, associate professor of animation, Mladen Kovačević, director of Merry Christmas, Yivu, Tatjana Soldat, director of the Serbian Cultural Center in Beijing, Tian Zhen, president of the Association for Educational Exchange between China and Serbia.

As part of the festival, in addition to film screenings, meetings of the Association for Educational Exchange between China and Serbia will be held on the topic of culture and education in Serbia. Also, exhibitions of old Serbian classic film posters, meetings with directors, students and film critics will be organized.