For its 17th iteration, Kustendorf will once again host auteurs, actors and musicians alongside film students from around the world in the Serbian mountains, starting on 23 January. The Kustendorf Film Festival – or, more precisely, the Kustendorf International Film and Music Festival – is a non-commercial, but distinguished and special, event that takes place at the end of January in the Serbian region of Mokra Gora. Amidst the snowy hills lies Drvengrad (or “Woodentown”), the site that festival founder and director Emir Kusturica shot his Life Is a Miracle at, which year after year welcomes distinguished guests, established filmmakers and newcomers with the same hospitality and love for cinema. At the festival’s opening, Kusturica traditionally welcomes the guests in accordance with traditional Serbian customs on the town square.

This year, some of the names whose work will be screened at Kustendorf include award-winning Italian director Matteo Garrone, whose Venice title (and Best Director winner) Me Captain [+lee también:
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entrevista: Giacomo Abbruzzese
ficha de la película] will close the section on Saturday 27 January. In the New Auteurs selection, the audience will get to see Sonya Karpunina’s Desperate for Marriage and A Gaza Weekend [+lee también:
entrevista: Basil Khalil
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The 17th edition of the Kustendorf International Film and Music Festival takes place from 23-27 January.