FEST Forward, the industry section of the Belgrade International Film Festival FEST, which took place from 3-5 March, included three strands: the National Selection, presenting nine Serbian fiction and documentary projects; Women in Film, with eight fiction and documentary projects from around Europe, focused on films made by women or with female-focused subject matter; and the Distributors and Exhibitors Convention, aimed at educating and strengthening the sector in the territory.

In the National Selection, the €4,000 award from Film Center Serbia went to the project The Witch Hunters [+leggi anche:
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Other projects in the selection included the fiction features Domino Effect by Djordje Milosavljević (recently acclaimed for penning the script for Redemption Street [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Miroslav Terzić
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intervista: Nikola Ljuca
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The documentaries presented were Do Not Come Home by Danilo Lazović and Miloš Ljubomirović, Sonia by director Marta Popivoda (Yugoslavia, How Ideology Moved Our Collective Body) and producer Dragana Jovović (Depth Two [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Vlado Škafar
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In the Women in Film section, the €4,000 award from Film Center Serbia and the European Women's Audiovisual Network went to the Polish project Fortnight by director Aga Woszczynska (Cannes Directors’ Fortnight short Fragments) and producer Agnieszka Wasiak (21 x New York [+leggi anche:
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Other projects in the selection were the fiction films Closed to the Public by Croatian director Vanja Sviličić (Zagreb Cappuccino) and producers Ana Grbac and Damir Terešak, of Maxima Film (These Are the Rules [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Kristina Buozyte
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The documentaries in the section were The Black Wedding by Serbian writer-director Dragan Nikolić and producer Jovana Nikolić, of Prababa Production (The Undertaker, Caviar Connection); and Zenit, a co-production between Germany, Austria and Serbia written, directed and produced by Serbia's Miona Bogović and Austria's Ana Hoffner, who are working on the project through the German Film and TV Academy Berlin (DFFB).

Finally, the Distributors and Exhibitors Convention gave out its first ever annual awards. Most notably, Blitz received the Award for Best Distribution Results for a European Film (Of Sheep and Wolves, which sold 14,079 admissions), and Con Film scooped the Best Local Film Distribution Results Award, for Nikola Kojo's comedy Stado (157,207 admissions). Distributor Megacom Film received the Award for the Most Diverse Slate, with 88 Serbian and European titles distributed or screened at festivals in 2016.