DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKERS IN POŽEGA – AUGUST WITH INTERACTION
Interaction: Short Docs Festival will take place in Požega from 18 to 24 August as one of six programmes presented within Interaction – international production, educational, and programme platform. Alongside the Festival, the 21st Student Film Camp, Doc Workshop, Teen Doc, Meet2Talk and the new DocuConnect Balkans programme will also be held.
This year’s edition will bring together around one hundred participants from Serbia and abroad, including film professionals, film students and secondary school students taking their first steps into the world of filmmaking. Screenings will be open to local audiences, while lectures, documentary project development and meetings with industry professionals will provide opportunities for exchanging experiences and building professional networks.
This year’s Interaction Festival presents short creative documentaries across three programme sections. The competition programme will feature 15 short documentaries selected by filmmakers Luka Papić and Dejan Petrović, this year’s Festival selectors, while the non-competitive sections comprise In Focus and Interscreen. The Best Film Award, supported by Interaction partner Sirogojno Company, together with the Festival’s other awards, will be presented at the closing ceremony on 24 August.
This year’s Student Film Camp will bring together five emerging filmmakers. They will arrive in Čačak on 8 August, where they will shoot a short documentary by 15 August, before continuing with editing and post-production in Požega. Throughout the process, they will be guided by mentor Isaac Knights-Washbourn, an award-winning director and also Interaction Camp Alumni.
The seven-day Doc Workshop will welcome 25 film professionals and film students, who will explore different aspects of creative documentary filmmaking with internationally recognised experts Rada Šešić and Corina Schwingruber Ilić. At the same time, five participants whose projects have been selected for the Doc in Progress programme will present and further develop their work through individual consultations with tutors.
The new DocuConnect Balkans programme will bring together emerging filmmakers from the Western Balkans in six director–producer teams. From 21 to 25 August, they will work with ten regional and European experts to strengthen the creative and production aspects of their documentary projects. The programme will conclude with a pitching session and an award presented to a project showing particular potential for regional collaboration and co-production.
Once again, Meet2Talk will connect participants from different Interaction programmes with one another and with representatives of the film industry. Through Talks, panel discussions and informal gatherings, the programme will address key topics in creative documentary filmmaking, ranging from production challenges to contemporary approaches to documentary practice.
This year’s Teen Doc Workshop will bring together 16 secondary school students from Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia. With the support of mentors and film professionals from the region, participants will learn about documentary filmmaking and media literacy, develop their own ideas and work in teams to produce three short documentaries. As members of the Interaction Festival Youth Jury, they will also select the best film from the competition programme.
Interaction 2026 is organised by the Independent Film Centre Filmart with the support of the European Fund for the Balkans, the Western Balkans Fund, the Swiss Government through the Culture for Democracy programme implemented by the Heartefact Fund, as well as Film Center Serbia, the Austrian Cultural Forum, Creative Europe Desk Serbia – MEDIA, the Municipality of Požega, Cinnamon Films, Sirogojno Company, MCS Sistem, Titan Cementara, Poslovni klub Zapadne Srbije, Textil Užice and other partners.