The Beneath The River Danube is a live screening event occurring in Dom ¬kulture, Belgrade. We are not-for-profit biannual Indie Film Festival based in Serbia with a mission to find young, unrecognized, unexceptional & underdog artists, and enable them show their talent and work to the world.

Ideas, vision & guides of the Beneath The River Danube Film Festival are:

- Highlighting the young and artistic heart of Belgrade by making it appealing destination for both emerging and non-affirmed filmmakers by sharing their talent and sensitivity;

- Build a connection among many different cultures which can be exprerienced under the wing of independent cinema, thus contributing in raising tolerance and familiarity towards different ways of life, traditions, religions, socio-cultural contexts and new points of view.

- Bring a critical discourse to observe it through curatorial and educational programs, symposiums and public lectures to broaden the knowledge of the ever-changing cutting edge cinema aesthetics.

- Become a haven for cinema lovers by organizing screenings, workshops, competitions and related activities.

The Festival will have a Four Categories:
1. Chronicles of Existence
2. Life is a Sport
3. Magic of Animation
4. Spirit of Experimentation

The official selections of the Festival, which will be screened on November 09-10, 2024 in Belgrade, will compete to win the Sterlet of Steel, main prize of the festival.

STERLET OF STEEL - Grand Prix of the Festival
Officially selected films in all categories will have the opportunity to win the highest prize at the Beneath The River Danube.
The Sterlet of Steel is a major award bestowed by the Jury and the Board of Directors of the Festival.

BEST SHORT FICTION FILM
Award for the best film in "Chronicles of Existence" Category.
Jurors of the festival give a prize to the best officially selected short fiction film, recognizing excellence in the craft of filmmaking.

BEST SPORT FILM
Award for the best film in "Life is a Sport" Category.
Jurors of the festival give a prize to the best officially selected documentary or short fiction film with a sports theme, appreciated soul of story, creativity and outstanding vision.

BEST ANIMATION
Award for the best film in "Magic of Animation" Category.
Jurors of the festival give a prize to the best officially selected animated short film, recognizing vivid construction of fearless and unique world.

BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILM
Award for the best film in "Spirit of Experimentation" Category.
Jurors of the festival give a prize to the best officially selected experimental short film, based on the consideration in terms of avant-garde and unique expression, struggle over content and subjective exploration of cinematic visual works at an aesthetic and contextual level.

Terms & Conditions
This competition is open to either Serbian and International projects, as long as they comply with Beneath The River Danube’s Terms and Conditions. You can check the following for further information.

CATEGORIES
In order to be accepted, your submission must fall in one of the following categories:

1) Chronicles of Existence – Running Time: No more than 10 minutes
2) Life is a Sport – Running Time: No more than 10 minutes
3) Magic of Animation – Running Time: No more than 10 minutes
4) Spirit of Experimentation – Running Time: No more than 5 minutes

Submitting to the wrong category will result in disqualification.
Please take care in choosing the correct category for your entry project. You will not be notified in case of mistake.

RELEASE DATE
In order to be accepted in the Beneath The River Danube, your project had to be completed (premiere) after January 1, 2022.

SUBTITLES
For your submission to be accepted, your foreign language project must followed by English subtitles. In case subtitles are missing, you will be notified by email and asked to update your work. If your updated submission fails in being provided with mentioned subtitles by final deadline, your work will be disqualified.

COPYRIGHT & LEGAL TERMS
By submitting your project at the Beneath The River Danube, the submitter and filmmakers associated with the entry project warrant as followed:
-You authorize your project to be exhibited at the Beneath The River Danube Film Festival;
-You accept to hold full legal responsibility for the intellectual property herein;
-Your project does not infringe any trademark, agreement, copyright, artistic, personal, civil, privacy, moral right of any person, firm, corporation or association;
-In case of any claim involving copyright, trademark, credits, publicity, screening, and loss or damage to the screening videos entered, you accept to indemnify and hold the Beneath The River Danube unharmed from any resulting claims, liabilities, losses, damages and expenses (including but not limited to attorney’s fees and costs of the court).

DISQUALIFICATION
- Any failure to comply with all Beneath The River Danube’s terms and conditions will result in disqualification;
- Submissions: Any film submitted to the wrong category (see Categories), failure to pay entry fees by deadline, doubled submissions (except for updated subtitled versions - see SUBTITLES);
- Release Dates (herein “RELEASE DATES”);
- Subtitles (herein “SUBTITLES”);
- Copyright and Legal Terms (herein “COPYRIGHT & LEGAL TERMS”).

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Thanks for the great opportunity to screen my film in the festival.

    November 2024
  • Sandro Khafor

    Thank you for showcasing our film Affect. Such an honor! We couldn’t attend, but the communication was top notch and professional!

    November 2024
  • Wonderfull film festival thank you for accepting

    November 2024
  • marjan keshani

    I am Marjan Keshani, Thank for Add Review for Beneath The River Danube. The festival is very important for me. I made PIANO animation.

    September 2024
  • Denis Nazzari

    Was a big plesaure and an a great honor screen the serbian premier of "prova d'amore" at this amazing festival and be awarded 🙂Organization, comunication and quality of the the festival are top level, hospitality was super, my First time in belgrade everything was perfect! Is an Honor for me to be prized from you ❤️ also Alessandro Haber and the oscar winning Nicola Piovani really thank you for the Awards 🙏🙏🙏 Hope to come back ....definitely One of my favorite festival...Teo and the organization are wonderful

    September 2024