For decades, the Belgrade Auteur Film Festival (FAF) has focused on films that don’t shy away from political issues, genre ruptures, and cinematic provocations, organised into several programs that vary in scope and concept. The Brave Balkans program stands out as a marginally experimental competitive selection, which is, true to its name, based on examinations of identity and boldness of expression, regardless of runtime, format, the authors’ gender or fame. On this occasion, selectors Stefan Ivančić and Maša Seničić choose atmospherically layered films from countries of former Yugoslavia, which could come together around silent incomprehension and burning intolerance: ethnic, generational, emotional and familial. In the five short titles, these elements are palpable, both in their thematic range and cinematic language.

Stefan Ivančić & Maša Seničić, Selectors for the Brave Balkans Competition, Auteur Film Festival