U30 Film Festival

U30 Film Festival

U30 Film Festival (Under 30 Film Festival) is a new international short film festival, whose first edition will take place from June 4 to June 7, 2026 at Dom omladine Belgrade. It is dedicated to young filmmakers and the short film form, and was created with the desire to provide space for a new generation of creators whose voices are just entering the contemporary film and cultural scene. The festival’s name refers to two key program criteria — films no longer than 30 minutes and authors younger than 30 years old.

However, given that film is a collective art and every film is the result of the work of a larger number of authors and collaborators, the festival’s requirement is not that every crew member be under 30. It is sufficient that the project belongs to the younger generation of creators in terms of authorship, i.e., that key creative roles on the film are held by young film professionals and artists.

During the first three festival days, the audience will have the opportunity to see a total of 11 films from Serbia, Montenegro, Spain, Ukraine and Poland within the competition program. The competition program includes fiction, documentary and animated films of various genres and approaches, providing insight into the diversity of contemporary short film and the interests of the new generation of authors.

A special value of the festival lies in the direct encounter between creators and the audience. After screenings, talks with the attending authors are planned, giving the audience a chance to learn more about the making of the films, creative processes and the themes they address.

On the final, fourth festival evening a special program dedicated to the young director Danilo Stanimirović, a member of the jury of the first edition of the festival, will be screened, after which the best film of the festival will be announced and awarded by the professional jury, which also includes Marija Vukić, screenwriter, director and producer, and Vuk Savić, festival director.

U30 Film Festival stems from the belief that the future of cinema belongs to new generations of creators and that it is important to create a space where their ideas can be seen and recognized. Some of the filmmakers whose works we will screen this year are at the beginning of their careers, but among them one can recognize future important names of regional and world cinematography.

The organizer of the U30 Film Festival is Afilmacija – Studio for the production of cinematographic works, led by its founder Vuk Savić, in cooperation with Dom omladine Belgrade.

Admission to all festival programs is free. Due to limited seating capacity, visitors must collect free passes, which will be available in the central hall of Dom omladine Belgrade one hour before the start of the program each day.

PROGRAM

THURSDAY, JUNE 4

COMPETITION PROGRAM

Screenings start at: 20:00

• "END OF THE WORLD"
  Directed by: Majda Ranitović
  Country: Serbia
  Year of production: 2025
  Duration: 22 minutes
  Synopsis: Marko (9), faced with news of a possible End of the World, overcomes his fear while fighting to keep the affection of his best friend Sara.

• "RIVER"
  Directed by: Uglješa Ranisavljević
  Country: Serbia
  Year of production: 2024
  Duration: 30 minutes
  Synopsis: Mirko has nightmares because he cannot come to terms with the loss of his father, who recently died. Mirko’s mother Vesna struggles as a single parent but increasingly finds help and friendly support in their kindly neighbor Jova. As the relationship between Mirko’s mother and neighbor Jova deepens, Mirko’s disapproval of that relationship becomes more aggressive and his lack of self-control worsens his relationship with his mother. The situation changes when Mirko’s childhood friend Marina comes to the village for the summer break. The emotions that arise between them seem to fill the void in Mirko’s heart left by his father’s death. After new life experiences, Mirko begins to look at his mother with understanding.

• "FATHER MEANS DAD, DOESN'T IT?"
  Directed by: Anja Kečalović
  Country: Montenegro
  Year of production: 2025
  Duration: 13 minutes
  Synopsis: When Janja (30) decides to spend the weekend with her father Momir (60) — a man she hasn’t seen in years — they both discover that love requires more than feelings; it requires the courage to confront and expand the boundaries of one’s own heart.

• "DON'T THEY KNOW IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD?"
  (Do they not know it's the end of the world?)
  Directed by: André Mileti
  Country: Spain
  Year of production: 2025
  Duration: 15 minutes
  Synopsis: Two young people on a date realize that their life circumstances prevent them from ever forming a serious relationship. For that reason, they decide to create a fantasy in which they are a married couple, which leads them to confront deep existential consequences.

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FRIDAY, JUNE 5

COMPETITION PROGRAM

Screenings start at: 20:00

• "LOVE PASSES, TRAUMA NEVER"
  Directed by: Veljko Petrović
  Country: Serbia
  Year of production: 2025
  Duration: 21 minutes
  Synopsis: Important life moments that have significantly influenced the development of the film’s main character, the director.

• "DON'T BE MAD, MAN"
  Directed by: David Denić
  Country: Serbia
  Year of production: 2024
  Duration: 30 minutes
  Synopsis: A hot-tempered driving instructor with a heart condition is advised to take up fishing to calm his nerves, but when his path crosses with an awkward angler who desperately wants to pass his driving test, an unexpected friendship forms, leading them both to lessons they never expected.

• "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN, RABBIT?"
  Directed by: Petar Đuraković
  Country: Serbia
  Year of production: 2024
  Duration: 23 minutes
  Synopsis: Zeka, a talented but reckless student, meets his friends one evening. Their help will determine whether he can repay his debt, which is due tomorrow.

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SATURDAY, JUNE 6

COMPETITION PROGRAM

Screenings start at: 18:00

• "WOVEN"
  Directed by: Miloš Živanović
  Country: Serbia
  Year of production: 2025
  Duration: 30 minutes
  Synopsis: Miša, a young man with powerful telekinetic abilities, is trapped in a dark experiment where he is exposed to manipulation and abuse. Although various comforts and pleasures are offered to him after his release from captivity, Miša rejects those temptations. Driven by the search for truth and freedom, he embarks on a dangerous journey to discover the secrets of his powers and regain control over his life.

• "YOUR HOME IS MY HOME"
  (YOUR HOME IS MY HOME)
  Directed by: Denys Kireiev
  Country: Ukraine
  Year of production: 2025
  Duration: 7 minutes
  Synopsis: A young woman arrives at a peaceful country house she rented to spend some time alone. While filming a casual video tour for a friend, she notices an unusual man standing at the edge of the woods, silently watching her. When she tries to approach and confront him, the man begins to mimic each of her movements with disturbing precision. As the distance between them slowly closes, the boundaries between inner and outer space — safety and invasion of privacy — begin to blur.

• "BREATHLESS"
  Directed by: Marta Socha
  Country: Poland
  Year of production: 2024
  Duration: 27 minutes
  Synopsis: A young woman with a rare illness learns there is a cure for her abroad. She decides to leave her family and go on a journey to fight for her own survival.

• "THE BOY WITH RED EARS"
  (El niño de orejas rojas)
  Directed by: María Lucía Suárez Barbery
  Country: Spain
  Year of production: 2025
  Duration: 13 minutes
  Synopsis: In a corner of the forest, a boy plays and learns to whistle among the trees and parrots. He grows up. One day he discovers fire and runs home to tell his mother. However, seeing her helplessness and fragility, his excitement vanishes, as if the air suddenly has no taste. Unaware of what is happening, he does not know that illness has cast a shadow over their home. His mother, with a quiet and exhausted voice, takes his hand and, sitting by the fire, tells him about a shrub that burns but does not burn; that gives life instead of destroying it. The boy, overwhelmed by sorrow and restlessness, curls up in bed, convinced that he must find that shrub in the nearby forest. But while he dreams of growing up, the fire devastates everything around him.

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SUNDAY, JUNE 7

RETROSPECTIVE PROGRAM

Screenings start at: 20:00

• DANILO STANIMIROVIĆ – RETROSPECTIVE OF SHORT FICTION FILMS
  Danilo Stanimirović graduated with a BA in Digital Arts from FMK and an MA in Film and TV Directing from FDU. His short films have been screened at festivals around the world. He is the founder of the Požarevac Film Festival POFF and co-founder of the production company 3FILM. He is part of the VAC collective with which he organizes and mentors the International School of Visual Anthropology in Požarevac. He has experience working as a festival selector, and as a director of sitcoms and commercials.

• "BAMBILAND"
  Directed by: Danilo Stanimirović
  Country: Serbia
  Year of production: 2019
  Duration: 22 minutes
  Synopsis: Strahinja has just finished acting school and works as a clown in a children's playroom. Bambiland is a large amusement park in his hometown that was open when he was a child. Today it is an abandoned and eerie place, which as such serves as a metaphor for Strahinja’s generation in Serbia.

• "5/3/0"
  Directed by: Danilo Stanimirović
  Country: Serbia
  Year of production: 2023
  Duration: 16 minutes
  Synopsis: During the night, a teenage girl takes a taxi to a neighboring town. After a disturbing ride and an even more unpleasant evening at a friend’s birthday party, she is forced to return home with a frightening taxi driver who insists she sit in the front passenger seat next to him.

• "CATS"
  Directed by: Danilo Stanimirović
  Country: Serbia
  Year of production: 2025
  Duration: 14 minutes
  Synopsis: The quiet boy Miša finds an abandoned kitten on the street. Since his parents neglect him, he is left to learn how to cope in life on his own, relying on the only relationship he manages to build — his friendship with the kitten.

After the screening, a short conversation with Danilo Stanimirović about his authorship and film work is planned. Following the conversation, the jury prize for the best film of the festival will be formally awarded.