7th International Sports Film Festival Opens on Zlatibor
The 7th International Sports Film Festival was ceremoniously opened today at 7 PM at the “Serbia” Congress Center on Zlatibor.
The festival was officially inaugurated by the Mayor of the Municipality of Čajetina, Milan Stamatović, who delivered a welcome address to participants, festival guests, and award recipients. At the opening ceremony, Lifetime Achievement Awards were presented in recognition of outstanding contributions, with the aim of preserving the legacy of prominent figures in Serbian sport and performing arts in collective memory. Portraits of this year’s award recipients will soon adorn the walls of a new Youth Cultural Center, which is set to become the future home of the Festival and Zlatibor’s—indeed Serbia’s—Hall of Fame. The audience was also addressed by legendary Serbian international footballer Savo Milošević.
The eight distinguished laureates honored this evening—described as a “team for eternity”—are: Bogdan Joksimović Bobica, Ivica Osim, Sreten Damnjanović, Dragan Kićanović, Vladimir Stanković, Dušan Ivković, Vojkan Borisavljević, and Dragoslav Šekularac.
According to the concept developed by program creators Jovan Marković, Nikolaj Parahovnik, Aleksandar Avramović, and Festival Director Mihailo Todorović, the seventh Zlatibor edition was symbolically opened, in cinematic terms, by Dino Rađa, Toni Kukoč, Aleksandar Đorđević, and Svetislav Pešić through the film “250 Steps”. The festival will close with Miloš Biković and the Russian film “Ice”, for which he received a Special Award for international acting success and his significant contribution to sports films through roles portraying footballers, basketball players, and figure skating champions.
Over the next three days, the festival program will feature more than 50 films from 22 countries. A notable mixed team of sports and arts professionals is expected to participate, representing the festival in specially designed jerseys. Among them are Nataša Kovačević, Vladimir Stanković, Mladen Đorđević, Aleksandar Miletić, Ivica Vidanović, Maja Tucaković, Vanja Dermendjieva, Srđan Savić, along with numerous filmmakers, artists, athletes, and journalists.
The Festival’s Organizing Committee particularly highlights a series of accompanying, non-competitive thematic film programs. These include a session with Nataša Kovačević—a symbol of perseverance in sport and life—scheduled for Sunday, June 10 at 3 PM, as well as a presentation by representatives of the sporting community of Subotica on Saturday, June 9 at 4 PM. The organizers also emphasize their pride in hosting the world pre-premiere of the film “The Jump”, alongside the premieres of “When Silver Shone Like Gold” and “Belgrade – The Cradle of Basketball”. They further expressed their delight that Zlatibor’s schoolchildren will take part in the Festival, both during the meeting with Nataša Kovačević and at the closing ceremony, where they will perform timeless compositions by Vojkan Borisavljević, this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award recipient.
The timing and thematic focus of this year’s Festival were influenced by two major sporting events: the recent EuroLeague Final Four in Belgrade and the FIFA World Cup, which prompted the Festival to be held earlier than usual. This year’s competition program encompasses all sports and highlights some of the greatest athletes, with particular emphasis on basketball and football. Among those featured is legendary basketball coach Željko Obradović, who, almost simultaneously with his real-life achievements in Belgrade, has also “played” a role on screen—one that audiences will have the opportunity to see here on Zlatibor.