Open Spaces - Rudnik Festival of Innovative Cinema

OPEN SPACES - RUDNIK FESTIVAL OF INNOVATIVE CINEMA is an emerging international film festival dedicated to presenting and promoting daring, unconventional, „made-for-cinema“ short and mid-length documentary, experimental and hybrid works and their authors, set in the foothills of the picturesque Rudnik mountain in central Serbia.

In line with the ambiguous nature of its name, the concept of OPEN SPACES Festival encompasses a number of meanings, aspects and understandings of the terms „openness“ „space“ and „spatiality“ in the filmic context. We see this festival as a point of convergence and a showcase for the many different ideas, formal explorations, questions and possibilities related to the filmic space or spatiality in film in the broader sense, but also as a welcoming environment, an „open space“, that embraces innovative cinematic works from all corners of the world that challenge the established perceptions, limitations and formulas of contemporary filmmaking.

Furthermore, it is our intent and mission to fully integrate the environment of the surrounding Rudnik area into the festival itself, allowing all participants and visitors to share a unique festival experience that transcends the movie theater and becomes more of a spatial one. With regard to the festival’s focus on various cinematic examinations of space as a narrative element, further creative emphasis is set on those films and filmmakers that are willing to make bold and unorthodox choices, to explore atypical narrative structures, to utilize various techniques of visual storytelling, to seek out and highlight marginalized or untold stories and their protagonists, to search for new methods of communicating with the audiences, all the while retaining a distinguishably personal and uncompromising tone and approach.

If you’ve recognized yourself and your movie in some or all of these words, then OPEN SPACES Festival is the right place for you! Submissions are open for short and mid-length films (up to 50 minutes). All selected films will be featured in a single, unified competition programme, and will compete for the main festival award - “Zapis” Award for Best Film, as well as Special Mentions awarded by the festival jury.

Located about 100 km south of Belgrade, in the heart of the central Serbian region of Šumadija, Rudnik mountain and the eponymous small town on its slopes have, since pre-Roman times, been mostly associated with mining and coin minting. However, despite this industrial pedigree, Rudnik has also been recognized as a climatic spa and its thick forests make it the closest true „wilderness“ to Belgrade and a perfect summer getaway.

Building upon and expanding the decade-long tradition of film events and festivals being held in the Rudnik area, we have envisioned for OPEN SPACES to go beyond the regular scope of a film festival and become a special kind of gathering point - one where all particpants and guests can share a close and dynamic connection, a hospitable and productive environment, but also be able to enjoy their time in Rudnik as a retreat and immerse themselves in the mesmerizing and tranquilizing atmosphere of the mountain. It is this inseparable link between the event itself and the setting in which it takes place that gives OPEN SPACES Festival its name, its foundation and its distinction.

In addition to a meticulously selected and assembled film competition, which will be shown in the cinema of the Rudnik Cultural Centre, get-togethers, hiking tours, workshops and similar activities, the festival will also parallelly host a unique music programme with performances by live experimental bands in a special setting, evoking the spirit and ambience of local celebratory traditions.