The Network of Cinema Screeners of Montenegro was formed

The founding assembly was held in Mojkovac on April 27, when producer Ana Lazarevic was appointed as president, and Katarina Jovanović as vice president.

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Photo: FCCG
Photo: FCCG
Disclaimer: The translations are mostly done through AI translator and might not be 100% accurate.

The first Network of Cinema Screeners of Montenegro was founded on Saturday, April 27, in Mojkovac, announced the Film Center of Montenegro (FCCG), which is the founder of the network together with the "Nenad Rakočević" Culture Center from Mojkovac.

The founding assembly was held as part of the "Conference for the Development of the Cinematic Audience in Montenegro" in Mojkovac, and a producer was appointed as the president. Ana Lazarevic, while vice president Katarina Jovanovic.

President Lazarevic sees the formation of the Network of Cinematographers as an important step towards the improvement and development of cinematographers and the cinematography industry.

Lazarevic and Božovic
Lazarevic and Božovicphoto: FCCG

"The goals of the Network are to meet and connect network members for the first time in the history of Montenegrin cinematography, exchange experiences, examples of good practice, consider common problems, make decisions that will strengthen both the Network itself and its influence in the country and the region. Technological challenges, coping with the decrease in the number of audiences in cinemas, attracting new audiences, changes in movie piracy, financing, are just some of the challenges. The fact is that these can be obstacles, but we will approach them as opportunities for innovation and the development of new business models for the domestic film to be more visible, and in order to achieve this, it is necessary to launch initiatives to develop a new audience and increase viewership in cinemas," she said.

The program concept of the Network, she explained, will be based on artistic relevance and have an awareness of the educational function of cultural institutions, their responsibility for the development of the entire cultural field in which it is necessary to be open to the needs of communities.

"Through cooperation with festivals, inclusion in international programs, collaboration with networks in the region, we will develop program strategies that will not be based solely on a commercial approach, but will try to find models of sustainability with programs that will include feature, animated, documentary, experimental , short and feature films, as well as European productions," Lazarevic pointed out and announced numerous different workshops.

Vice-President Jovanović expects the Network to become a platform for the exchange of ideas, resources and experiences among cinema exhibitors and film professionals in the country.

Network of movie theaters of Montenegro
photo: FCCG

"I believe that together we will succeed in raising the film industry to a higher level and contribute to the cultural development of Montenegro... I would like to point out that the headquarters of the Network is located in Mojkovac, which represents an important step towards the decentralization of cultural activities in Montenegro. This city was chosen as a host for our founding assembly, which is extremely important for the local community. I invite all interested parties to support our work and join this important project towards a better future of Montenegrin cinematography," said Jovanović.

At the conference, the head of the Directorate for the Development of Activities in the Field of Cultural and Artistic Creativity addressed the attendees Petar Kovačević. He said that with the new National Cinematography Development Program for the period from 2025 to 2029, which is being prepared, with the Action Plan for the period from 2025 to 2026, the digitization of cinemas in Montenegro continues and will be one of the priority activities. .

The need to organize a "Conference for the development of the cinema audience in Montenegro", considering the number of digitized theaters in Montenegro, says the director of FCCG Aleksandra Božović, is part of the Film Center's strategic plan to strengthen domestic film and develop a new audience base. She also recalled the ongoing project "The cinema is working again: Contemporary Montenegrin film 2017-2023".

"FCCG, in partnership with the Ministry of Culture and Media and local governments, has invested and will invest significant funds to create the best possible conditions for the operation of digitized cinemas. The Law on Cinematography defines that cinematography is an activity of public interest. However, the necessity of establishing the Network of Cinematographers of Montenegro which would deal with these issues was imposed in recent years when, after a long series of years, 10 cinemas in Montenegro were successfully digitized. Our goal is to have cinemas operating according to the most modern standards in every city," said Božović.

The initiative of the "Nenad Rakočević" Culture Center from Mojkovac, Božović added, is extremely important and explained:

"The first movie theater was digitized here, and this is the city with one of the two oldest film events in Montenegro, 'Mojkovac film autumn'," said Božović.

As part of the conference, various panels were held on the topic of digitalization of cinemas and work on audience development, comparative practices of networks of cinema screens from the region and Montenegro were also presented, there were talks and discussions of distribution companies in Montenegro, and the functioning of the association Europe was also presented. Cinemas.

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