FEST film festival concludes with awards for Zafranović and Crveni hangar

The 53rd FEST international film festival in Belgrade has concluded, with Lordan Zafranović receiving the ‘Milutin Čolić’ award for the best Serbian film, ‘Zlatni rez – 42: Djeca Kozare’. The film, which explores the suffering of Serbian children in the Jasenovac concentration camp, was praised by the jury for its strong authorial expression and investigation of historical crimes.

In the international competition categories, the Spanish film ‘Crveni hangar’ (Red Hangar) by Juan Pablo Salcedo was named the best world film, receiving the ‘Beogradski pobednik’ award. The film was also recognized for its cinematography and use of space. In the European competition, the Swedish film ‘Tihi pčelar’ (The Silent Beekeeper) won the top prize.

Other notable awards included the ‘Slobodan Novaković’ award for best debut film, shared by the Spanish ‘Crveni hangar’ and the Chilean ‘Lutajuće stene’. The festival, which showcased 115 films, also recognized films such as ‘Filipinka’ for direction and ‘Učitelj’ (The Teacher) for screenplay.