The International Jury of the 58th Bitef Presented

The 58th edition of Bitef will be held in Belgrade from September 25 to October 4, and the president of the international jury will be Marin Man, a theater director, choreographer, and artistic director of the In Vitro group.

Bitef’s artistic director, Nikita Milivojević, introduced the international jury for this year’s festival. In addition to Marin Man, the jury includes actresses Jelena Stupljanin and Tihana Lazović, dramaturge Dimitrije Kokanov, and critic Nataša Tripni. They will decide the winners of the Grand Prix “Mira Trailović” and the Special Award “Jovan Ćirilov.”

Nikita Milivojević, Foto: Tanja Drobnjak

This year, Bitef brings a rich accompanying program, including the jubilee 25th edition of Bitef Polifonija (October 1–3) and the 12th edition of Cirkobalkana (September 19–28). The audience will also have the opportunity to participate in Meetings with Authors and the Theoretical Feast (September 27–28), where renowned professors Nikita Dhawan and Maria do Mar Castro Varela will give lectures on the role of art in society.

The festival will open with the dance performance “Softening” by Berlin’s Dance On Ensemble, co-produced by the Onassis Stegi Foundation and the National Choreographic Center of France. Additionally, the French company Comédie-Française will perform “Hecuba, Not Hecuba.”

Bitef director Miloš Latinović reminded that some of the most successful performances at Bitef were the result of excellent collaborations with foreign cultural centers in Belgrade, noting that cooperation with the Goethe-Institut and the French Institute has lasted for decades.

In line with that, this year’s Bitef will open with the dance performance “Softening” by the Dance On Ensemble from Berlin, co-produced by the Onassis Stegi Foundation of Greece and the National Choreographic Center of Rillieux-la-Pape, Franc

“In this performance, 11 dancers over 40 years old perform,” stated Dr. Christoph Feldhus, director of the Goethe-Institut. “The piece consciously raises the question of what it means to mature as an artist: How does the body change, what changes does it bring to performance, how does posture or attitude change, both literally and figuratively? ‘Softening’ also asks whether an artist softens with age.”

Artistic director Nikita Milivojević highlighted the already announced major guest performance of the centuries-old French company Comédie-Française with the play “Hecuba, Not Hecuba.” Although it was previously announced that this theater company would be making its debut in front of Belgrade’s audience at Bitef, thorough research conducted by the festival team revealed that this will be Comédie-Française’s first time at Bitef but not in the region.

“We discovered that the Comédie-Française visited our city in 1936 during their first Central European tour, a so-called propaganda tour,” revealed Milivojević, expressing gratitude to the Research and Documentation Department of the National Theatre in Belgrade for their assistance in uncovering this important detail.

Stressing the significance of this year’s guest performance, Caroline Sauty, cultural attaché of the French Institute, reminded that the director of the play “Hecuba, Not Hecuba,” Tiago Rodrigues, is the new director of the Avignon International Theatre Festival, one of the most important contemporary theater festivals in the world.

“Through his plays and as a festival curator, Tiago Rodrigues promotes European values in both a geographical and cultural sense, focusing on intercultural dialogue and cultural diversity. The regional presentation of this theatrical work is also a significant moment for Teatroskop, a regional program supporting performing arts exchange between Southeastern Europe and France, managed by the French Institute,” added Sauty, noting that with this important guest performance, Bitef has become part of this year’s French Culture Rhythm program.

Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia, Plamena Halačeva, noted that this year, Bitef’s program has expanded beyond European borders, thanks to important theatrical collaborations.

“Thanks to co-productions with several European partners, this year we will see performances from Brazil and Bolivia at Bitef. This is fantastic and contributes to Bitef remaining a crucial meeting place for top European and global artists year after year. For Belgrade and the entire region, it is a great honor to have such a theater festival,” she said. “The European Union will continue to support culture and cultural actors from Serbia. Yesterday, we ceremoniously opened the European House in the heart of Belgrade, which will be another place for us to gather. I invite you to visit the European House, follow the events, and contribute to its program and continued life.”

Tickets for Bitef are available online with a 10% discount, while they can also be purchased at the festival box office at regular prices.

The festival’s patrons are the Secretariat for Culture of the City of Belgrade, the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia, the Goethe-Institut Belgrade, the French Institute, and the EU Delegation. The general sponsor of the 58th Bitef is 1664 Blanc, while the partners and friends of Bitef include New Moment New Ideas Company, Generali Insurance Serbia, Erste Bank a.d. Novi Sad, and Coca-Cola HBC Serbia.