FEST (film festival)

FEST, also known as Belgrade International Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Belgrade, Serbia since 1971.

FEST

Location	Belgrade, Serbia
Founded	1971; 54 years ago (1971)
Language	International
Website	www.fest.rs

History

FEST was first held in 1971.^[1][2] It was the only film festival in socialist countries that attracted big Hollywood stars such as Jack Nicholson, Kirk Douglas, Robert De Niro, Dennis Hopper, Peter Fonda and famous directors like Miloš Forman, Francis Ford Coppola, Roman Polanski, Sam Peckinpah, and Pier Paolo Pasolini.

The festival's significance declined in the 1990s, mostly due to the international embargo FR Yugoslavia was under at the time. In 1993 and 1994, it was not held, and in 1997, it was interrupted in protest against police brutality taking place against student protesters.

In 2007, 98,191 tickets were sold for around 80 films.^[3] In 2007, it was opened by actress Catherine Deneuve and in 2009 by actor Ralph Fiennes.

As of 2024^[update] it is also referred to as the Belgrade International Film Festival FEST,^[4] or FEST – Belgrade International Film Festival.^[5] In 2024, the festival took place across seven locations across Belgrade.^[4]

Awards

A series of awards known as the Belgrade Victor awards are awarded at the festival. These include the Belgrade Victor for Outstanding Contribution to Film Art, Belgrade Victor for Creative Achievement, and the top prize, the Belgrade Victor for Best Film.^[6][7] There are also occasional honorary awards known as the Belgrade Victors for Best Contribution to World Cinema.^[4]

Other awards include the Nebojša Đukelić Award, Milutin Čolić Award, FEDEORA Award, and an Audience Award.^[4]

B2B Belgrade Industry Meetings

In 2006, B2B Belgrade Industry Meetings were established as a part of FEST. Program and business focus of B2B are cinematographies of the Europe out of Europe countries. B2B focuses on production, authors and films with the origin geographically in Europe, but still not enough intensely included in European integrative currents, also in countries outside Europe with strong European influence and heritage.^{[citation needed]}