The 16th Beldocs International Documentary Film Festival will be held in Belgrade from 10 – 17 of May in Belgrade and online.

Another Spring, a film by Mladen Kovacevic will open the 16th Belgrade  International Documentary Film Festival– Beldocs on May 10 in Dom Omladine Beograda.

It is a medical thriller reconstructed from 50 years old archive footage, taking place in the spring of 1972 when the deadly smallpox virus was brought into Yugoslavia from the bazaar in Iraq. The disease was spreading for a whole month before it was discovered in Kosovo, while in Belgrade it remained undetected even when the first patients started dying. Smallpox is the deadliest disease in human history that killed almost 500 million people in the 20th century alone. It is also the only deadly virus eradicated by humans, which is regarded as one of the biggest achievements of our civilization. In the story that united the entire world, the Yugoslavian epidemic is still remembered as one of the most horrifying and inspiring chapters. It was the final outbreak of smallpox in Europe.

This year’s Beldocs is the host of a prestigious international Eurimages Audentia Award for the best female director.

The Award, instigated by the Council of Europe’s Eurimages Fund with the intention to promote greater gender equality in the film industry, will be presented for the eighth time. Wishing to both pay tribute and give support to women who have had the courage to choose film directing as a career, Eurimages initiated an award that is presented every year at a selected film festival.  

‘Eurimages is delighted that the award is to be presented for the first time at a specialized documentary festival and also for the first time in Serbia, where it is expected to receive good visibility and serve as an example to encourage more women in the field’, said Susan Newman Baudais,  Eurimages Executive Director.

’We are greatly honored and excited because this is the first time that a documentary film festival has been chosen to host the presentation of this prestigious award.  We are especially happy because of the fact that creative documentary filmmaking has been increasingly recognized and valued within the audio-visual industry and by the audience. This is also an international recognition for Beldocs for its contribution to the field of female creation, reflected primarily in a greater presence of female authors in our competitive programmes and retrospectives, as well as in numerous panel discussions and programme specials dedicated to current events in the area of women’s rights, said Mara Prohaska Marković, the Beldocs IDFF director.

About Beldocs

Beldocs IDFF, one of the leading international documentary film festivals in this part of Europe, is held annually in May in Belgrade. Founded in 2008, it is divided into 12 program units and it is organizing over 100 premiere screenings every year, held at over 7 locations during the 8 days of the Festival. The Beldocs Festival presents 6 awards in 4 competition programmes. In addition to film screenings, it hosts a series of panel discussions, Master Class lectures, and industry workshops, with cash prizes for the development of future films. The work of the Beldocs IDFF is supported by more than 200 partners in Serbia, the region, and Europe. A creative team of over 20 members is behind the Festival, including film, design, and art experts. Since 2017, Beldocs is supported by MEDIA of the European Union and has been a partner in the following European projects: #europeanfilmchallenge, AVA Doc, Moving Cinema, Young4Film, Connecting Futures and it is a member of the European Documentary Network. For more information, visit https://www.beldocs.rs/.

by Dragana Kostica
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