Dušan Kovačević receives the "Saint Stefan Štiljanović" award at the closing of the 10th "Cyrilic" festival

Razgovorom sa akademikom Dušan Kovačević and the ceremonial awarding of the "Saint Stefan Štiljanović" award, the jubilee, tenth "Cyrillic" festival concluded in Budva last night. The closing evening at the Square Between the Churches was the culmination of a three-week program that transformed Budva into a meeting place for literature, theater, opera, music, visual arts, and cultural and spiritual heritage.

The festival jury, consisting of: Radomir Uljarević, president, Mila Baljevic i Dr. Radoje Femić, unanimously decided that the "St. Stefan Štiljanović" award for 2026 will be awarded to Academician Dušan Kovačević.

Explaining the decision, the festival's director and editor-in-chief Radomir Uljarević pointed out that the award bears the name of the saint, righteous man and protector of the people, the last prince Paštrović born in the area of ​​present-day Budva, and that it is awarded to authors who, with their overall work, leave a mark in preserving national, cultural and spiritual identity, while simultaneously elevating the domestic literary and dramatic word to universal values.

"The jury recognized precisely this thread that connects spiritual heritage with living artistic expression in the entire work of this year's laureate. For decades, Dušan Kovačević has preserved and renewed the Serbian language as a living spoken and stage expression through theater and film," Uljarević emphasized.

The award was presented to Kovačević by the Chief Administrator of the Municipality of Budva, Nevenka Božović Jovović, while the monetary portion of the award, on behalf of the company M:tel, as a friend of the festival, presented by the head of marketing and PR Marija Savicevic.

Thanking for the recognition, Kovačević emphasized that the award is especially meaningful to him because Sveti Stefan is his baptismal name. Later in the evening, he read his story about the library, dedicated to his first encounter with the library and the moment when his great love for books began.

The laureate was then interviewed by a literary critic, editor and publisher. Gojko Božović. The conversation covered Kovačević's decades-long literary, dramatic and screenwriting opus, his relationship to literature, theater and film, as well as the themes that run through his works. "Radovan III", "Marathoners Run the Honorary Lap", "Balkan Spy" and "The Professional" are just a part of the opus of the author whose plays and screenplays have marked several generations of audiences.

The closing evening also had additional symbolism, through a review Mile Baljevic - program editor, on the tenth anniversary of the "Cyrillic" festival.

"We had only one, but strong vision - that the writing and spiritual heritage on which we walked and became literate should not be left forgotten in the archives, but that, in accordance with our powers, we should make them alive, modern and present in contemporary culture. Tonight, at the closing of the jubilee 10th edition, I can proudly say that we have succeeded in that," said Baljević.

The musical part of the final evening featured performances by Dušica Kordić on the violin and Safet Drljan on the accordion, which gave the last program of the festival a musical ending.

The final program was preceded, on September 14, by a round table "Perspectives of Writing in the Digital Age", on which they Mirko Rakočević, Nikola Marković, Bojan Jovanović and Aleksandar Jerkov opened up questions about the impact of artificial intelligence on literature, authorship, language and the future of the written word. Thus, even at the very end, the festival remained open to the themes of the contemporary moment and the changes that shape culture and society.

During the final days, the book "The Spirit Breathes Where It Wills" by the Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral was also presented. Joanikia, while previously the promotion of the book "Mother, let me go" was held Igor Marojević, the first winner of the "Brskovski groš" festival award.

Over the course of three weeks, the anniversary festival "Cirilicom" brought a rich program in which literary, theatrical, musical and operatic content alternated. The audience watched the premieres of the plays "Cyril and Methodius - Who Are You", "Impurity Blood", "Around the World", "The Emperor" and the opera "Il segreto di Susanna - Susan's Secret", as well as the performance of "Helen of Anjou" and other stage programs.

The literary program included evenings dedicated to To Đorđe Nešić, Miloš Crnjanski, Dragan Hamović and other authors, as well as contemporary poetic and literary forms, while the musical program was marked by concerts Nicodemosa Kabarnosa i Bilje KrstićThe festival also opened up topics of cultural and spiritual heritage, history and identity through special programs.

Since the opening of the exhibition "I would have a letter" Milivoje Babović, until the final meeting with Dušan Kovačević, the tenth edition of the "Cirilica" festival connected books, language and the Cyrillic alphabet with various artistic expressions and contemporary cultural issues.

The "Cyrillic" festival was organized by "Obodsko slovo" and the Association of Publishers and Booksellers of Montenegro, under the patronage of the Municipality of Budva. All festival programs were free.