Branko Schmidt is one of the most famous and awarded Croatian directors. Born on September 21, 1957, in Osijek. He distinguished himself  by winning award at the film festival for his film debut, Sokol did not love him, in 1988. This film is based on the play by Fabijan Šovagović, and in the movie he plays the main role of Šim Begović from the village of Ladimirevci, who during the Second World War befriends one Ustasha and one partisan and finds himself between two fires.

 In addition to this film, he directed successful films such as Metastases and Cannibal Vegetarian, in which Rene Bitorajac plays the main roles. He can boast of a large number of films, both documentaries and feature films. He is considered the greatest names of Croatian cinematography.

After completing primary and secondary school, Schmidt decided to study economics. However, he was not satisfied with his choice ,and after a short time he stopped and decided to enroll in the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb, studying film and TV directing. He graduated with the TV drama Rano zrijevanje Marko Kovača and received many positive reviews.

In 1982, he directed the TV drama Hildegard, which was well received by the audience.

In 1991, he directed the film Đuka Begović based on the stories of Ivan and Josip Kozarac with Fabijan Šovagović, who again appears in the lead role with Slobodan Ćustić, and subsequently two documentaries, Six Seconds for Life and Vukovar Memento in 1994, and in 1997, Christmas in Vienna.

In 2000, he made another film called Srce nije u modi with the same war theme about environmentalist Henry who arrived in Osijek in 1991 to save the oldest oak tree in the world. In 2001, he directed the feature Queen of the Night, about a young man who is Yugoslavia's greatest hope in rowing.

Watermelon Road from 2006 is another film with a dark theme and harrowing scenes that are one of Branko Schmidt's artistic signatures. The film talks about trade and people smuggling in the region, and all of this seen from the eyes of a young Chinese woman who encounters many problems due to language and cultural differences.

In 2009, he made one of the most provocative films of Croatian cinematography Metastases, a film that speaks without censorship about the deepest problems of Croatian society, such as violence, hooliganism, alcohol and drugs.

In the movie Cannibal Vegetarian from 2012, Rene Bitorajac plays the main role of a gynecologist who performs illegal abortions without remorse. The names of the cherry from 2015 deals with the harsh everyday life of an elderly married couple from Bosnia who return to their home village destroyed by war.

He worked as an editor in chief of the Drama and Documentary program at HRT.

Schmidt is the winner of numerous domestic film awards, among which stand out the Golden Arena for the best screenplay for the film Christmas in Vienna and Queen of the Night, the Golden Arena for the best male role, set design and tone for the film Watermelon Road.

His work is also recognized abroad, so in Montpellier, France, in 2006, he won the award for the best film for The Watermelon Road and the Grand Prix in the competitive selection of films from Central and Eastern Europe at the Cleveland International Film Festival in 2007, also for The Watermelon Road.
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His films Metastasis and Cannibal Vegetarian resonated strongly with the public and became cult Croatian films. 

MOATI, SERGE (1946– ), French television director. Moati was born in Tunis. From 1982 to 1986 he was the head of the state-owned channel 3 of French television (fr3), where he had been director of programming in 1981–1982. In addition to his work in television, he directed a number of feature films and was a film critic. He was awarded several prizes for his television programs, among them a prize for a documentary film (Prague, 1970), a prize for the best French-language film (1970), television critics award (1973), and the International Critics Award at the Monte Carlo festival in 1980.
 Serge Moati grew up in a Tunisian Jewish family, with his socialist Freemason father, who distinguished himself during the Second World War by his resistance activities, an escape from the Sachsenhausen camp and his participation at the Liberation of Paris.
Orphaned at the age of eleven, Serge Moati left his native Tunisia to go to Nice, then Paris. He took his first steps in the audiovisual sector as an actor, playing in particular in Les Quatre Cent Coups by François Truffaut, then became a director of television magazines such as Cinq colonnes à la une or Envoyé Spécial. A true information enthusiast, during his career he directed numerous documentaries, television programs and docu-dramas for French television, often with political life as their theme, such as the film Mitterrand à Vichy.
Very involved in politics under the Mitterrand regime, he was formerly a political consultant/public relations manager for François Mitterrand. Following the  successful rum on the France 5 channel with his program Ripostes, debate between political personalities, Serge Moati marked a new path with Mes questions sur…, a program tackling more intimate and varied themes such as homosexuality or nomadism.
Since then, Serge Moati hosts Politiques on the LCP channel, and he is managing  his production house Image et Compagnie.

Anja Šovagović Despot is a well-known name in the Croatian cultural scene. Through her work as a theater, television and film actress, she achieved great individual and collective cultural success. Due to her work, she is the winner of numerous theater and film awards and recognitions. She founded the drama group "Lift". In addition to her great success as an actress in theater and film, she performed as a singer at numerous pop music festivals. In addition, she became famous as a writer with the work "Wild Freedom", which was published in 2003.
She graduated from the classical gymnasium and high school of music, where she perfected the cello. As she finished music school and played the cello, she wanted to continue with the music academy, but in 1985, came the role of Laura Lenbach,  in Miroslav Krleža's "In Agony",and she graduated in acting at the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb, in the class of Professor Tomislav Durbešić.
She was born on March 25, 1963 in Zagreb. She was born to her mother, Marija, a Croatian language teacher, and her father, Fabijan Šovagović, one of the greatest Croatian actors, who with his work and contribution greatly marked and raised the quality of an era of acting in Croatia to another level. Anja's younger brother, Filip, is also involved in acting and directing.
As a seventeen-year-old girl, she collaborated with Dragan Despot, whom she married six years later. In marriage, they had a son, Jakov, and a daughter, Ana.
As she performed as an actress in the theater, she could not imagine herself in a film role. For a while, she refused film offers, until she accepted the role of Stella (in 1990), a troubled delinquent who escapes from a Zagreb, thereby making a turning point in her career.
After “Stela”, Anja shot a dozen films such as "Baka Bijela", a film from 1992, then the film "Sisters", also from 1992, then Bruno Gamulina's film, "Polagana predaja" from 2001, based on the novel of the same name by Goran Tribuson. The film was declared the best film, won five Golden Arenas.
She collaborated with numerous theaters in Croatia, as well as in the drama program of the Croatian Radio. In her career, she played over forty leading roles in the theater and thus entered the ranks of the greats of Croatian theatre.
In addition to achieving great success as a musician, and above all as an actress, Anja also loved literature and writing. She made her debut with the literary collection of theatrical essays "Wild Freedom". She also published the autobiographical book "When you have something to give", which she dedicated to her childhood.
She is the winner of many theater and film recognitions and awards. It is worth noting that she was awarded the Order of Danica Croatia. In 1987, she received the award for the best young actress at Gavella's evenings. She received the Golden Smile award for the best leading role at the Days of Satire for the role of Natalija Petrovna in Goldoni's "Summer Trilogy". She is also the bearer of the Memorial of Homeland Gratitude.

                                                        The call for submissions is open until 15 March 2023.

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                                                              South-East European Film Festival 2023
                                                             SEE FF - BERLIN - PARIS - WASHINGTON
 
 
“SEE FILM FESTIVAL” is established by Association SEE a Paris, a non-profit organization whose responsibilities include, among others, the selection of the Festival line-up and the films in competition. The Festival will have an online edition, for the audiences exclusively from Paris (France), Berlin (Germany) and Washington (USA), from 01 to 06 June 2023.

 
“SEE FILM FESTIVAL” is open to all films (feature, documentary, fiction and animation) whose directors and/or producers originate from the following countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey.

The festival has officially opened its call for entries and accepts submissions of short, medium, and long films for the Main Competition.

All shooting formats are accepted. 
The duration of the short films must not exceed 15 minutes.
There's no time limit for feature, documentary and animation films.

The deadline for submission is 15 March 2023.

There is no submission fee.
We prefer online submission through the web platforms FilmFreeway.
You can, however, still apply directly to the Festival. In this case, it is mandatory that applicants send a download link or link to online screener of their film, along with a filled and signed ENTRY FORM on the mail info@seeaparis.com. For any other form of submission, please contact us by mail.  

For more information about the application please read the REGULATIONS.

 Hello festival friends,
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The International Jury of “FRÉDÉRIC ROSSIF AWARD”, appointed by The Artistic council of The South-East European Film Festival (SEE FF Paris-Berlin-Washington), with its President Mr. Fabrice D’Almeida, The President of the SEE FF, Mr. Jordan Plevnes, and its honorary president Mr. Yves Boisset, decided to grant Mr. Vladimir Perović the “FRÉDÉRIC ROSSIF AWARD 2022” for documentary filmmaking.

Vladimir Perović graduated in Film & TV Directing from Faculty of Drama Arts, Belgrade, Serbia. His creative documentaries won 111 awards and recognitions so far. He was jury member in Yugoslavia, Serbia, Montenegro, Germany, Russia, Iran, Romania. Visiting professor of Documentary at Faculty of Drama Arts in Cetinje, Montenegro. Selector for Documentary section of Film Festival Herceg Novi (2011-2018), and Festival of Ethnological film, Belgrade (2020…). He lives in Belgrade, and makes his films both in Serbia and in Montenegro…

Selected filmography: 1989: Une maison (A House); Srećna Nova (Happy New Year); 1992: Saga o Samuraju i Glibu (The Saga on Samourai & the Mud); 1996: Hodočašće (Pilgrimage); 1997: U/dešavanje glasa (Tuning Voices / Rigging Votes); 2000: Ura (The Clock); Sin (Son); 2001: Ljubav, zavet (Love, Vow); 2002:  Mali kvar na mojoj sjajnoj zvezdi (A Slight Malfunction on My Shiny Star); 2003: Nestajanje (Vanishing); 2006: Dim (The Smoke); 2007: Žeđ kamenog mora (The Thirst of a Stone Sea); 2011: Život, priključenija i održivi razvoj jednog kokota (Trials, Tribulations & Sustainable Growth of a Cock); Zvezdana prašina (Star Dust); 2013: Život je (Life is); 2015: Eoha; 2016: 2 & 2; 2016: Zaveslaji (Strokes); 2020:  Ognjilo (Sparks); Mir naše Gospe (Our Lady’s Peace); … 2022: Procenti života (Percents of Life) – in editing room…
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Dragan Bjelogrlic is one of the greatest Serbian actors, directors, and producers. Apart from a successful acting career that lasts 40 years, in the last two decades, he also devoted to producing and directing movies and TV shows, consequently becoming one of the most recognized and successful cinematographic creators in the entire region. As an actor, he played over 90 roles on film and TV series.

He started directing in 2009. He directed three films that brought in 2.500.000 viewers to the movie theaters which makes him the most successful director in the Balkans in the last ten years. His last film "Toma" attracted over 1.100.000 viewers and became the most seen film in the cinematographic history of the Balkans. The film "Toma" closed the 2021 Sarajevo Film Festival.

He directed the "Black sun" series (2 seasons ) which is the first series of the region streamed on the "Amazon Prime" platform. His directorial debut "Montevideo, God bless you" was shown on over fifty international festivals (Moscow/Audience Choice Award, Warsaw/Audience Choice Award, Beijing/Grand Prix, Sao Paulo, Jakarta, etc.) and was the Serbian candidate for the Oscars. It won The Best Director and The Best Film award at the Serbian "FIPRESCI" association.

He produced six films that together won over thirty awards on various film festivals and five TV series.

Dragan Bjelogrlic was born on October 10, 1963. After finishing elementary and high school in Belgrade, he enrolled at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts (FDA). His first acting role in front of the camera was at the age of 15, as the character of Sava Jovanovic Sirogojno in the film "Bosko Buha" (1978).

After graduating from the FDA in 1989, he had a number of roles that made him a well-known actor and also recognized as one of Serbia's leading artists. He attracted a lot of public attention with the role of Slobodan Popadic in the series "Better Life" (1987-1990). After that role, he was in the TV show "Forgotten" (1990) and the films "The Black Bomber" (1992), "Full Moon over Belgrade" (1993), " Pretty Village, Pretty Flame" (1996). So far, he has played in almost 60 films, about 30 TV shows and dramas and 11 theater plays.

At the beginning of 1994, together with his brother Goran Bjelogrlic, he founded the production company "Cobra Film", which has produced some of the most famous theater plays, films, and TV series in Serbia and the Ex-Yu region.

In 2020, he established Master class at Faculty for media and communications, Singidunum University Belgrade.