Balkanika wins two awards at Venice Film Festival

The Italian-Serbian co-production ‘Balkanika’, directed by Nikola Sorcineli, has received two awards at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival. Within the ‘Giornate degli Autori’ (Authors' Days) program, the film won both the Audience Award and the Best Debut Film award.

The film follows two musicians from Afghanistan who travel the Balkan route in search of a new beginning after music is banned in their home country. ‘Balkanika’ was filmed entirely in Serbia, primarily in the Sjenica and Pešter plateau regions, with the support of the Film Center of Serbia. The production is a collaboration between Italian companies Nightswim and Wildside (part of the Fremantle group) and the Serbian company This and That Productions.

Other Serbian-involved films were also showcased at the festival, including ‘Do kraja dana’ by Jelena Maksimović in the Orizzonti program, and ‘U vrtu moja ruka pušta koren’ by Boris Hadžija and Hod Taheri in the Authors' Days program.