The international jury of the 58th BITEFA was presented

The international jury of the 58th BITEFA was presented

The fifty-eighth edition of the Bitef Festival will be held from September 25 to October 4 in Belgrade, and the international jury will be chaired by Marin Man, theater director, choreographer and author, artistic director of the group In Vitro.

To meet this year’s Bitefwhose general sponsor is 1664 Blanc, the second meeting with media representatives was held today in a relaxed atmosphere on the terrace CoffeeBean cafeterias in Belgrade. On this occasion, the artistic director of the festival, Nikita Milivojević, presented the international jury of the 58th Bitef, which will be chaired by the aforementioned Marin Man.

Besides her, the festival jury will consist of actresses Jelena Stupljanin i Tihana Lazovićplaywright and writer Dimitrije Kokanovas well as journalist and critic Nataša Tripni. They will decide which of the ten plays from the main program will receive one of the festival’s awards – the Grand Prix “Mira Trailović” and the Special Award “Jovan Ćirilov”.

In addition to the above-mentioned performances, the Bitef audience is also expecting an interesting and varied supporting program this year. As Milivojević announced, this year Bitef Polyphony will hold its jubilee, 25th edition from October 1 to 3. Twelfth in a row And the sky will be held from the 19th to the 28th of September in the Port of Belgrade. And this time Meetings with the authors will enable the audience of festivals to exchange experiences and impressions with the authors of the plays who come to Bitef from all over the world. Theory partya platform edited by prof. Dr. Ana Vujanović, will be held on September 27 and 28, and will include two lectures by world-renowned professors – Nikita Davan will review the role that art should play in the face of growing social injustices, while Marija do Mar Castro Varela will deal with new interpretations and understandings of fragility and insecurity.

The colors of Bitef erase the boundaries

Director of Bitef Miloš Latinović reminded that some of the most successful guest appearances at Bitef are the result of excellent cooperation with foreign cultural centers that exist in Belgrade. Thus, the cooperation with the Goethe Institute and the French Institute has been going on for decades.

On that track, this year’s Bitef will be opened by the dance show “Softening” by the Dance On Ensemble from Berlin, realized in a co-production of the Onassis Stegi Foundation from Greece and the National Choreographic Center Rilieu-la-Pap from France.

“This performance features 11 male and female dancers who are over 40 years old,” said the director of the Goethe Institute, Dr. Christoph Feldhus. “The piece consciously opens up the question of what it means to mature as an artist: In what way does the body change, what changes does it bring to the performance, in what way does the posture or attitude change, both in a direct and a figurative sense. Softening also raises the question of whether the artist softens with age?”

Hekuba, not Hekuba © Christophe Raynaud de Lage, Comédie-Française collection, Avignon Festival 02

Artistic director of Bitef, Nikita Milivojević, drew attention to the already announced big guest appearance of the famous, centuries-old French company Komedi Fransez with the play “Hecuba, not Hecuba”. Although it was previously announced that this theater company will present itself to the Belgrade audience for the first time at Bitef, during the summer preparations and thorough research by the festival team, it was determined that Comedie Fransez is making a guest appearance at Bitef for the first time, but not in the region.

“We found out that the Comedie Fransez company visited our city in 1936, as part of their first tour of Central Europe, the so-called propaganda tour,” Milivojević revealed and expressed his gratitude to the Research and Documentation Service of the National Theater in Belgrade, with whose help the festival came to this important information.

Emphasizing the importance of this year’s hosting of the mentioned company, the culture attaché of the French Institute, Caroline Sota, reminded that the director of the play “Hecuba, no Hecuba” Tiago Rodrigues is the new director of the International Theater Festival in Avignon, one of the most important festivals of contemporary theater in the world.

Press conference_Photo by Tanja Drobnjak

“Through his theater pieces, but also as a festival selector, Tiago Rodrigues nurtures European values, in the geographical and cultural sense of that term, dealing with intercultural dialogue and cultural diversity. The regional presentation of this theater piece is also a significant moment for Teatroscope, a regional program to support exchanges in the field of performing arts between actors of South-East Europe and France, which is managed by the French Institute”, added Sota, stating that with this important visit, Bitef became part of this year’s program The rhythm of French culture.

The Deputy Head of the EU Delegation in Serbia, Plamena Halačeva, stated that this year the Bitef program went beyond European borders, thanks to important theater collaborations.

“Thanks to the co-productions of several European partners, this year at Bitef we can also watch performances from Brazil and Bolivia. This is fantastic and contributes to the fact that Bitef remains an important meeting place for top European and world artists year after year. For Belgrade and the entire region, it is a great recognition and honor to have such a theater festival”, she stated. “The European Union will continue to support culture and cultural actors from Serbia. Yesterday, we officially opened the European House in the heart of Belgrade, which will be another meeting place. I invite you to visit the European House, follow the events and contribute to its program and future life yourself.”

Plamena Halačeva, Deputy Head of the EU Delegation in Serbia_Photo by Tanja Drobnjak

The blue and white friendship of Bitef and 1664 Blanc

The general sponsor of this year’s Bitef is the 1664 Blanc brand, which is proud to be able to contribute to the success of the festival in this way.

“The 1664 Blanc brand, known for its sophisticated taste and top quality, fits perfectly into the atmosphere that the Bitef festival provides. As a festival dedicated to art and creativity, Bitef is a natural choice for our support because it reflects the values ​​that 1664 Blanc represents – elegance, innovation and commitment to excellence. We are looking forward to being part of this unique event and providing support to talented artists and the cultural scene,” said Jovana Vještica, corporate affairs manager of Carlsberg Serbia.

Miloš Latinović, director of Bitef theater_Photo by Tanja Drobnjak

Tickets for the festival can be purchased online. on the festival websitewith a 10% discount. At regular prices, tickets can also be purchased at the Bitef box office, which is also open this year in the festival press center, on the first floor of the MTS hall (Nikola Pašić Square). The office hours from September 24 to September 24 will be from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. (every day, except Sundays), while from September 25 to October 4, the office will be open at the same time, on weekdays and weekends.

The patrons of the festival are the Secretariat for Culture of the City of Belgrade and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia. The general sponsor of the 58th Bitef is 1664 Blanc, which recognized the importance of the festival as a cultural manifestation and contributes to its success. Traditionally, the festival was supported by the Goethe Institute, the French Institute and the Delegation of the European Union. New Moment New Ideas Company, the festival’s creative agency, is a partner and friend of Bitef. The partners of the festival this year are also Generali osiguranje Srbija, Erste Bank ad Novi Sad, as well as Coca-Cola HBC Srbija.

Source: BIZLife

Photo: Tanja Drobnjak