On Tuesday evening, the former mansion of writer and Nobel Prize laureate Ivo Andrić in Herceg Novi served as the venue for the presentation of a monograph titled A Sovereign Gaze: Two Decades of Montenegrin Cinema (2006-2026) within the ambit of the Montenegro Film Festival taking place in this very town on the Adriatic coast. The publication of this book was instigated by the Film Centre of Montenegro as part of the country’s celebrations for the 20th anniversary of its regained independence. The monograph was also introduced to the public of the Cinehill Festival in Croatia earlier this summer, but Tuesday’s event marked the first time it had been presented in its country of origin.

The book, edited by Sanja Jovanović, head of the Department for Programme Policies and Planning at the Film Centre of Montenegro, contains 16 texts written by as many Montenegrin film professionals, filmmakers, critics, festival programmers and scholars, divided into three major chapters. The first chapter is dedicated to the process of building systemic foundations for the national film industry; the second provides an overview of the achievements of Montenegrin filmmakers over the past 20 years; and the third batch of texts is dedicated to the complementary activities which are also part of the film scene, such as festivals or poster design. On the book’s cover is a stylised still from Ivan Marinović’s Forever Hold Your Peace (2023) containing a close-up shot of actor Momo Pićurić, who passed away last year, which makes this image an homage to the actor as well as an illustration of what an independent filmmaker’s vision should look like.

The event was organised by the Film Centre of Montenegro, the festival and its industry section, the Montenegro Film Rendezvous. A conversation moderated by Milena Zajović, a Croatian film critic and one of the programmers at the Cinehill Festival, included Sanja Jovanović and several contributors to the monograph: journalist and film critic Marija Ivanović Nikičević, industry expert Darja Šuković, film theorist Maja Bogojević, screenwriter Stefan Bošković, journalist and festival selector and director Vuk Perović and graphic editor Nikola Latković.

“I see the creation of the film centre as a pivotal moment. It allowed us to establish stable budgets, ensure continuity and join the already-existing film networks in the region and in Europe,” said Jovanović. “We were then able to implement a five-year plan for the development of our national cinema. The former head of the centre, Sehad Čekić, as well as myself and the whole team have strived not only to maintain ongoing financing structures for film projects, but also to nurture film culture, promote gender equality and education, and digitise film theatres,” she added.

Marija Ivanović Nikičević spoke about the audience reception for Montenegrin films: “I think we need to keep raising public awareness of the fact that every viewer counts, and that each of us should go to the cinema and buy at least one ticket now and again, so as to support the film scene, but now, there is a whole system in place, and we are already seeing some results.”

Stefan Bošković spoke of Montenegrin cinema as comprising a variety of voices: “There is not one uniting factor, whether thematic, stylistic or tied to one specific attitude towards the state. Montenegrin filmmakers all seem to come from different schools of cinema, but this perfectly reflects the magnificent and elusive character of this country.”

Perović stated that all local film professionals and viewers should be proud of their national cinema, which has been represented at festivals such as Venice, IFFR, Karlovy Vary, Black Nights and, most recently, Sundance, winning a number of awards in the process. Šuković highlighted the importance of institutional support and stated that platforms like the Montenegro Film Rendezvous were perfect for giving authentic Montenegrin stories more visibility on the global scene, as international film professionals are actually willing to hear them.

A Sovereign Gaze: Two Decades of Montenegrin Cinema (2006-2026) was printed in Montenegrin, English and French for the domestic as well as the international audience.