Jelena Mitrović, producer, Serbia
Jelena Mitrović (1977) graduated from the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade with a degree in Film and Television Production. She has produced more than 30 feature films, several documentaries and short films to date. Her work includes films such as ‘The Trap’ (Klopka) directed by Srdan Golubović (the film won 22 international awards at the 2007 Berlinale Forum and entered the Oscar shortlist of nine films for the Best International Feature Film category), ‘Clip’ (Klip) directed by Maja Miloš (Tiger Award at the 2012 International Film Festival Rotterdam), the animated short film ‘Rabbitland’ directed by Nikola Majdak and Ana Nedeljković (Crystal Bear at the 2013 Berlinale, in the Generation 14+ programme), ‘Circles’ (Krugovi) directed by Srdan Golubović (Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, Ecumenical Jury Prize at the 2013 Berlinale Forum) and the latest feature film ‘Father’ (Otac) by director Srdan Golubović (Ecumenical Jury Prize and the Audience Award at the 2020 Berlinale, in the Panorama section). The films she produced were screened at more than 900 festivals worldwide and won 200 international film awards.
Jelena Mitrović was chosen as a member of the Producers on the Move prestigious international network at the Cannes Film Festival in 2010. She is also a member of the European Film Academy and the board of directors of the ACE Producers network. This talented producer is Associate Professor at the Department of Film and Television Production of the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade.
Vinko Brešan, director, Croatia
Vinko Brešan was born in 1964 in Zagreb, where he studied comparative literature and philosophy at the Faculty of Philosophy as well as Film and Television Directing at the Academy of Dramatic Arts. His debut, low-budget feature film ‘How the War Started on My Island’ (Kako je počeo rat na mom otoku) is, after ‘Titanic’, the most seen feature film in Croatian cinemas since 1990. Brešan’s films ‘Marshal Tito's Spirit’ (Maršal) and ‘Witnesses’ (Svjedoci) won awards at the festivals in Berlin and Karlovy Vary, and his fourth feature film ‘Will Not End Here’ (Nije kraj) won the FIPRESCI Critics' Award in Karlovy Vary. The film ‘The Priest's Children’ (Svećenikova djeca) is the most seen Croatian film in the 21st century, nominated for the European Film Academy Award. His sixth feature film ‘What a Country!’ (Koja je ovo država) was seen in Croatian cinemas by more than 60,000 viewers and was named Best Film at the Sopot Film Festival, thus being the first minority Serbian co-production to win at that festival.
Vinko Brešan is a theatre director as well. His play ‘Mirisi, zlato i tamjan’ (Scents, gold and incense) was declared a cultural event of the Rijeka Summer Nights in 2005. The plays directed by him, ‘Pljuska’ (Slap) by Nenad Stazić and ‘Predstava Hamleta u selu Mrduša Donja’ (The play of Hamlet in the village of Mrduša Donja) by Ivo Brešan, won the Days of Satire in Zagreb in 1999 and 2014, respectively. The play ‘Kako je počeo rat na mom otoku’ (How the war on my island started) by Ivo and Vinko Brešan won the Audience Award at the Marulić Days in 2019.
The TV series ‘The Diary of the Great Perica’ (Dnevnik velikogo Perice), in which he is a co-writer and director, won the Heart of Sarajevo award for Best Dramedy / Comedy - TV Series as well as the Heart of Europe award as the best TV series of Eastern Europe in 2021.
Petar Benčina, actor, Serbia
Petar Benčina was born in Belgrade, where he gained his acting degree from the Faculty of Dramatic Arts with Professor Dragan Petrović. He works in film, television and currently plays in the Yugoslav Drama Theatre. He is Assistant Professor of Acting at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts. Benčina won the Velimir Bata Živojinović award for Best Actor in the film ‘Toma’.
Laza Razanajatovo director, producer, Madagascar
Laza Razanajatovo, MA in Film, studied at La Fémis in Paris. In 2006, he founded the Rencontres du film Court de Madagasikara (RFC) festival in Madagascar, of which he is the director. In the last 15 years, within his production company ‘Rozifilms’, he did a lot of executive productions and produced most of the films of young directors from Madagascar. He is very involved in the renaissance of film production in Madagascar - he participated in establishing the film fund there, initiated productions and the reviving of cinemas. He is the president of APASER, the Pan-African Alliance of Screenwriters and Filmmakers.
Jovana Stojiljković, actress, Serbia
Jovana Stojiljković (30) graduated from the Acting Department of the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade with Professor Dragan Petrović. She played dozens of roles in films, TV series and theatre. Her first significant role was in the feature film ‘Panama’, after which she appeared in the films ‘Stitches’ (Šavovi), ‘South Wind’ (Južni vetar), ‘Vera’... She also acted in the TV series ‘Black Sun’ (Senke nad Balkanom), ‘Morning Changes Everything’ (Jutro ce promeniti sve), ‘The Last Socialist Artefact’ (Podrucje bez signala) ... Since 2016, she has been a permanent member of the Atelje 212 Theatre. Jovana Stojiljković is the winner of significant film and theatre awards in Serbia.
