Directed by: Borislav Šajtinac

When there’s nothing more to say, weapons talk.

Borislav Šajtinac 

Serbian filmmaker and artist based in Paris. He made his first animated film The Spring of Life (Izvor života) in 1969, along with Nikola Majdak. After that, he made his first experimental film Analysis (Analiza), followed by animated Not Everything That Flies Is a Bird (Nije ptica sve što leti) in 1970, as writer, animator and director. His films won numerous awards at the most prestigious international and local film festivals. He is recognized all across the world as an innovative animator, graphic virtuoso, an expert on powerful political satire and dark humour. At the Belgrade Documentary and Short Film Festival, 57th edition, Borislav Šajtinac received the life achievement award, and in 2016 the Golden Plaquette of Belgrade for his animated film Politics (Politika) as well as the Best International Short Film award. His works are part of museum collections in Belgrade, Novi sad, Hannover, Bonn, Basel, Paris, Strasbourg.

* World premiere

Directed by: Yorgos Lanthimos

Screenplay by: Efthimis Filippou, Yorgos Lanthimos

Produced by: Adam Saward

Cast: Matt Dillon, Daphne Patakia, Susan Elle

A professional cellist has an encounter with a stranger on the subway which has unexpected and far-reaching ramifications on his life.

Yorgos Lanthimos

Born in Greece. His sophomore film Dogtooth won the Un Certain Regard Prize at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for the Academy Award® for Best Foreign Language film. The Lobster won the Jury Prize at the 68th Cannes Film Festival and received an Academy Award® nomination for Best Original Screenplay. The Killing of a Sacred Deer won Best Screenplay at the 70th Cannes Film Festival. The Favourite received a leading ten Academy Award® nominations in 2019.

Yorgos Lanthimos says of the film: „I was glad to be given the opportunity to work on a shorter format that can be sometimes challenging but quite rewarding. We developed a script starting from a very intriguing initial idea and concept, and enjoyed great creative freedom during the realisation of the film. It is always very exciting to be invited to think outside the box and wrestle with stimulating ideas”. 

*Serbian premiere

Directed by: Peter Jackson

Produced by: Peter Jackson, Clare Olssen 

Production company: House Production Trustees of the Imperial War Museum, London WingNut Films

Academy Award-winner Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings trilogy) presents the Great War as you have never seen it. Using state of the art technology to restore original archival footage which is more than 100-years old, Jackson brings to life the people who can best tell this story: the men who were there. Driven by a personal interest in the First World War, Jackson set out to bring to life the day-to-day experience of its soldiers. After months immersed in the BBC and Imperial War Museums’ archives, narratives and strategies on how to tell this story began to emerge for Jackson. Using the voices of the men involved, the film explores the reality of war on the front line; their attitudes to the conflict; how they ate; slept and formed friendships, as well what their lives were like away from the trenches during their periods of downtime. 

Jackson and his team have used cutting edge techniques to make the images of a hundred years ago appear as if they were shot yesterday. The transformation from black and white footage to colourised footage can be seen throughout the film revealing never before seen details. Reaching into the mists of time, Jackson aims to give these men voices, investigate the hopes and fears of the veterans, the humility and humanity that represented a generation changed forever by a global 

Peter Jackson

His most highly acclaimed cinematic achievement is considered to be his screen adaptation of J.R.R Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. The project kicked off in 1999, with Jackson not only directing the films but co-writing and producing with long-time collaborators Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens. Among their many honors, The Lord of the Rings blockbusters earned a total of 30 Academy Award nominations, winning 17 Oscars, including Best Picture for the final film.

In 2010, Jackson plunged back into Middle-earth directing, co-writing and producing The Hobbit Trilogy of films, based upon the enduringly popular masterpiece novel of the same name, also penned by J.R.R. Tolkien. Each film earned around a billion dollars at the worldwide box office, and the trilogy also gathered a total of seven Academy Award nominations.

Between trilogies, Jackson fulfilled a childhood dream, helming the 2005 remake of  King Kong. The film picked up three Academy Awards and a BAFTA Award. Switching gears, he then directed The Lovely Bones, an adaptation of Alice Sebold’s acclaimed best-selling book, released wide in 2010. 

In addition, Jackson produced, along with Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, the 2011 feature  The Adventures of Tintin, which was also directed by Spielberg. Jackson also produced the science fiction thriller District 9, as well as producing the 2012 documentary West of Memphis, together with Damien Echols, one of the teenagers falsely accused of the murder featured in the film.

Jackson’s passion for filmmaking started early in life. His first feature film, Bad Taste was made during the weekends with friends, taking nearly four years to be completed. Meet the Feebles followed, starting a long-time collaboration with physical effects guru Richard Taylor.

Heavenly Creatures, featuring a young Kate Winslet, launched Jackson onto the worldwide stage. For this film, Jackson and lifetime partner Fran Walsh received their first Academy Award nomination for screenwriting. Michael J Fox starred in Jackson’s next feature, the ghost comedy The Frighteners, which was executive produced by Robert Zemeckis.

In 2010 Jackson received a knighthood for his services to film.

*Serbian premiere

Cast: Karen Waddell

Poetry read by: John Ralston 

Production company: V-Art Productions

The sound of a shower against the backdrop of nighttime in the city. The next day, a middle-aged woman, the subject of a love poem, walks home down a sunny Toronto street while verses of the poem echo through her head. The flowers on her table wither. The poem continues to ring in her head as she comes to her house with a bouquet of fresh flowers. On her way home, she pauses at the gate of her house, feeling for a minute the presence of a man she loves. But the figure is nowhere to be seen. At home, she gently arranges the flowers to the beat of her inner poem. Night falls. She stretches on the floor while verses of love and longing still echo in her mind. A man walks to the door of the woman’s dwelling. The poet, whose words propel her story has arrived to welcome his muse. Outside, the night falls, backwards this time.

Janko Virant 

Director/Producer from Ljubljana, Slovenia, where he studied at The Institute of Design,

Photography & Film. Worked as a producer and director for the film division of the Slovenian cultural organization SKUC, where two of his films earned national film festival awards. Moved to Canada where his first work explores and dramatizes the universal immigrant experience: “From the bottom of the earth, I took the elevator of chance to the top floor, got out my last three pennies and threw them down, to see if I could find them again”. With his first Canadian film launched, Janko founded V-Art Productions, making Mind’s Eye, Mysteriously Yours, In Eve’s Shadow and Two Sides of a Shadow, all for the CBC. The Boatswain was broadcast on History TV, TVO, Vision TV, RDI. Janko most recently finished documentaries Slovenian-Canadian Roots and Window of Opportunity, broadcast on OMNI TV 1. Currently he is working on NEVER LET YoUGO, a feature supported from TELEFILM Canada and OMDC, about a Slovenian rally car driver trapped between his dream of returning home or settling in Canada.

*European premiere

Directed by: Tatia Skhirtladze

Co-directed by: Anna Khadzaradze

Written by: Inna Ivanceanu & Tatia Skhirtladze

Produced by: Karin Berghammer, Alexander Dumreicher-Ivanceanu & Bady Minck, Nino Chichua, Anna Khazaradze & Linda Jensen, Sarita Matijević

Production company: berg hammer film, Amour Fou, 1991 Productions, Playground produkcija

The film explores an unusual biographical mix of connections between the world’s best chess players from the Cold War era. Four Georgian grandmasters: Maja Chiburdanidze, Nana Alexandria, Nona Gaprindashvili and Nana Joseliani, became icons of women’s emancipation in the Soviet Union and made revolutionary changes in the world of women’s chess. The fifth heroine, the famous Serbian chess player and journalist Milunka Lazarević gives the global perspective. She follows the heroine’s development path from the very beginning, as a close friend in private life and a fierce rival at the chessboard. It is a film about victories and defeats in chess and life, but above all, about a revolt against a powerful, predominantly male system.

Tatia Skhirtladze

Born in 1976 in Tbilisi, Georgia, lives in Vienna, Austria. Graduated in Art Education and Fine Arts and obtained her master’s degree in Fine Arts in the Netherlands. Works in various art fields, as well as various art projects. Currently teaches video art at the University of Applied Arts Vienna. One of the founders of SuK bureau for cultural implication.

Written, directed and produced by: Jelena Mila

Production company: M.A.M.M.A produkcija Stokholm

On the Elavation of the Holy Cross Day in 2020, with the blessing of the British-Scandinavian Bishop Dositej, the film follows a day on the property of the future first Serbian monastery and spiritual-cultural center in Smedjerid, Laholm municipality. The sanctuary dedicated to the Protecting Veil of the Mother of God has been in construction in the south of Sweden for twenty years, and the works are slowly coming to an end.

Jelena Mila 

Actress, film director, producer, author. Besides stage and film art, she likes math, poetry and theology. She received her master’s degree in Acting at the Belgrade Faculty of Dramatic Arts and is working on her doctoral thesis in film theory. She helmed the feature film Iron Warrioresses – Women Volunteers in First World War based on the eponymous stage play. She prepares film adaptations of her other stage plays dealing with prominent women of Serbian history: Tsarina Jelena and Mileva Marić Einstein. She published five books, currently develops screenplays about two historical female figures: Jelena Balšić and Jelena Petrović of Savoy.

Lives and works between Stockholm, Belgrade and Perast. The mother is two wonderful boys.

* World premiere

Posle kiše / After the rain (08′ 42″)

Režija:  Valérian Desterne, Juan Olarte Zúñiga, Carlos Osmar Salazar Tornero, Lucile Palomino, Juan Pablo de la Rosa Zalamea, Céline Collin, Rebecca Black 

Ptica i kit / Bird and the whale (07′ 04″)

Režija: Carol Freeman 

Skitnica Doroti / Dorothy la Vagabonde (08′ 38″)

Režija: Emmanuelle Gorgiard 

Van staze  / Hors Piste (06′ 01″)

Režija: Leo Brunel 

Slatka noć / Nuit Cherie (13′ 46″)

Režija: Lia Bertels 

Utočište / Refuge de l’ecureuil (13′)

Režija: Chaitane Conversat 

Vivat musketiri  / Vivat musketeers (05′ 30″)

Režija: Anton Dyakov

Ol inkluziv / All inclusive (100’)

Režija: Corina Schwingruber 

Fest / Fest (02’ 55”)

Režija: Nikita Diakur

Nailazi poplava / Flood is coming (08’ 57”)

Režija: Gabriel Bohmer  

Last year when the train past (17’ 30”)

Režija: Pang-Chuan Huang

Prošle godine kad je prošao voz / Passage (22’)

Režija: Kitao Sakurai

Lažna prijava / Swatted (19’ 59”)

Režija: Ismael Joffroy Chandoutis

Interfilm Berlin is one of the biggest and reknown international short film festivals worldwide. It was founded in 1982 in Berlin. It is an Oscar qualifying film festival.

Ties (2019. / 07’ 30’’)

Germany, Russia

Directed by: Dina Velikovskaya

A daughter leaves the family home to lead a life of her own as an adult. Still, she remains connected to where she´s from, which has consequences for everyone.

Interfilm 2019: Best film 

The Award (2017. / 16’ 30’’)

North Macedonia

Directed by: Lidija Mojsovska

Arben wants to win some prize money to help his sick brother. His mother forbids him from taking part in the competition as an Albanian, but Arben is not ready to give up just yet.

Rain (2019. / 05’)

Poland

Directed by: Piotr Milczarek

During a free fall from the top of a skyscraper, gawkers come together. The resulting euphoria leads to a couple of copycat acts

Facelift (2019. / 07’)

Germany

Directed by: Dennis Stein-Schomburg & Jan Riesenbeck

More or less philosophical musings on life, death, existence, and all the rest. With a helping of acutely absurd mental gymnastics on top.

La Capa Azul (2019. / 05’)

Puerto Rico

Directed by: Alejandra López

In hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico, medicine can be hard to come by. A little boy has to grow beyond his limits if he is to help his grandfather.

Hizia (2020. / 19’ 46’’)

France

Directed by: Chabname Zariab

As Louise prepares to go out of her building, a man hands her a bag before being picked up by the police.

Foyle International Short Film Festival 2020: Best International Short Film (Oscar qualifying)

Fluid Border / Fliessende Grenze (2020. / 17’ 13’’)

Germany

Directed by: Joana Vogdt

The German-German border area 1980: The bureaucratically defined “flowing border” runs through the middle of the Schaalsee. One night a storm pushes a buoy on this boundary line. While the border and measuring troops in East and West are trying meticulously to restore order, two surveyors throw their prejudices overboard and overcome the borders between them.

Interfilm 2020: Best German film, Audience award 

2020: Nomination for the European Short Film Audience Award of the European Film Academy

Written, directed and produced by: Carsten Panitz

Produced by: Dr. Michael Flintrop, Dragana Latinović

Participants: John Glen, Janine Glen, Maud Adams, Beatrice Libert, Dr. Michael Flintrop, Prof. Dr. Ivo Ritzer, Dr. Wieland Schwanebeck, Benjamin Lind

Production company: Fenomena Film Production

British film director John Glen was special guest of honor at the 6th Cineways International Filmfestival in Brunswick/Germany in 2017. There he received the Cineways Lifetime Achievement Award for his work as editor, second unit director and director. This documentary contains an in-depth interview with John Glen that was conducted prior to the festival in his home in Oxfordshire as well as interviews with Maud Adams, the main actress of Octopussy,  actress Beatrice Libert, who starred in Moonraker, German film scholars Wieland Schwanebeck and Ivo Ritzer and others. John Glen’s career as editor and second unit director as well as his films as director (including Aces: Iron Eagle III and Christopher Columbus: The Discovery) are discussed and his achievements as a director of five James Bond movies (For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, A View to a Kill, The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill) are analyzed regarding their connection to his second unit direction of action scenes in The Wild Geese or Peter Hunt’s Gold and Shout at the Devil.

Carsten Panitz 

Received his Bachelor’s degree in English and American Studies and Literary Studies at Bielefeld University in 2009 having written his B.A. thesis on director John Carpenter.. He made several short films as writer/director before executive producing the full length feature Zwischen Sommer und Herbst by writer/director Daniel Manns. Currently developing his first feature film as writer/director and directing a stage adaption of E.T.A. Hoffmann’s Der Sandmann as a solo performance with actor Stefan Meißner. This is his first full length documentary feature.

Dr. Michael Flintrop

Martovski Festival Guest

He has been working as a lawyer in Braunschweig for 25 years as a criminal defense attorney. During his studies in Regensburg, he wrote cinema reviews for 20 years before becoming an PhD on the study of American Action Cops at the University of Göttingen. Since 2012 former and organizer of the Cineways International Film Festival Wolfsburg, which has already had international guests such as directors John Badham, John Landis, Joe Dante, John Glen and Bruce Beresford.

*World premiere

Written and directed by: Heidi Hassan & Patricia Pérez Fernández

Produced by: Daniel Froiz & Delphine Schmit

Production company: A Matriuska Producciones, Perspective Films, Producciones de la 5ta Avenida, PCT cinéma télévision

Two filmmakers who have been best friends since childhood, both part of the Cuban diaspora, share their intimate and emotional journey while they try to find themselves and each other in a

foreign land. 

Patricia’s debut and Heidi’s second full-length documentary, premiered at IDFA where it won the top award (Best Feature-Length Documentary).

Heidi Hassan (Cuba, 1978)

After getting a degree in Cinematography from the International Film School of San Antonio de los Baños, Cuba in 2002, she emigrated to Switzerland where she continued her professional training at the Haute Ecole d’Art et Design in Geneva (HEAD). She got her diploma in Film Directing in 2008. Nowadays she reconciles her personal work as a filmmaker and visual artist with numerous collaborations as a director of photography. Her work has been presented in prestigious international film festivals where they received several awards and critical acclaim. 

Patricia Pérez Fernández (Cuba, 1978) 

After getting a degree in Drama from Havana’s Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA), she continued her training at the International Film School of San Antonio de los Baños, Cuba, where she got her diploma in Film Directing in 2002. In 2003 she got a scholarship to pursue postgraduate studies at the Film and Audiovisual School of Catalonia (ESCAC) and migrated to Spain. Since then, she has made several fiction short films and documentaries. Currently, she is a staff member of DOCMA (Spain’s Documentary Producers Association). 

*Serbian premiere

Directed by: Alex Holmes

Produced by: Victoria Gregory, Alex Holmes

Maiden Crew: Sally Creaser, Angella Farrell, Jo Gooding, Nancy Hill, Jeni Mundy, Michelle Paret, Claire Russell, Dawn Riley, Tanja Visser, Mikaela von Koskull, Mandi Swan.

Production company: New Black Films

Inspirational story of how Tracy Edwards, a 24-year-old cook on charter boats, became the skipper of the first ever all-female crew to enter the Whitbread Round the World Race in 1989. Tracy’s dream was opposed on all sides: her male competitors thought an all-women crew would never make it, the chauvinistic yachting press took bets on her failure, and potential sponsors rejected her, fearing they would die at sea and generate bad publicity. But Tracy refused to give up: she re-mortgaged her home and bought a second-hand boat, putting everything on the line to ensure the team made it to the start line. Although blessed with tremendous self-belief Tracy was also beset by crippling doubts and was only able to make it through with the support of her remarkable crew. With their help she went on to shock the sport and prove that women are the equal of men.

“Maiden is an inspirational story of guts and determination that deserves to be heard by the widest possible audience, so its great to know that Dogwoof are on board to make that happen. Their passion for this project has been unstinting and New Black Films is excited to be deepening its relationship with such an inspiring group of professionals.”

Alex Holmes, director

Alex Holmes

Bafta award-winning filmmaker whose moving and provocative work spans both documentary and drama. He wrote and directed the searing documentary Stop at Nothing: The Lance Armstrong Story for ABC, which Variety magazine described as „riveting… devastating… thought-provoking“, as well as Emmy, Bafta and RTS-winning dramas House of Saddam, Dunkirk and Coalition. He directed the horror influenced revenge thriller Paula for the BBC.

*Serbian premiere