Continuation of program collaboration between the University of Montenegro and the Film Center of Montenegro
To further the fruitful programmatic collaboration between the University of Montenegro and the Film Centre of Montenegro, a new agreement on business and technical cooperation has been signed. This agreement aims to promote and encourage the development of student filmmaking and to support young and talented creators in Montenegros cinematographic and audio-visual industry. The basis for establishing this partnership and program collaboration is rooted in the Cinematography Act, specifically Article 4, paragraph 2, indent 8, which prescribes support aimed at providing conditions for supporting young and talented creators. Thus, the Film Centre of Montenegro, as the leading national institution dedicated to the development of cinematographic activity, and the University of Montenegro, as a higher education institution qualifying professionals in the field of cinematographic production, find a common interest in establishing a continuous relationship of mutual program and synergistic action.
To this end, a meeting was held at the Film Centre attended by the Rector of the University of Montenegro, Prof. Dr. Vladimir Božović, and the Director of the Film Centre of Montenegro, Aleksandra Božović. They discussed a series of joint initiatives and models that could further contribute to the enhancement of mutual program collaboration, as well as various forms of support for developing film literacy and new artistic education programs in the audio-visual industry. Also present at the meeting was Prof. Dr. Nikola Vukčević, head of the Film and Media Studies program at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts, where other important issues for enhancing student film promotion programs and lifelong learning programs linked to the labor market were also considered.
Student films produced as a result of this collaboration have been showcased at several regional and local film festivals and reviews, notably winning selections and awards at the Herceg Novi Film Festival, Bar Summer Eves, and the Seanema Film Festival in Ulcinj. Besides these festival venues, the films have also been featured in two specialized broadcast cycles dedicated to student film in collaboration with the national public service RTCG, as well as within special program segments and film cycles implemented by FDU – Cetinje in cooperation with the Montenegrin Cinematheque, and local public broadcasters in Nikšić, Bar, Herceg Novi, Tivat, and Pljevlja, as part of the "Cinema is Back" program initiative led by the Film Centre of Montenegro.
These media, festival, and cultural venues have also provided unique opportunities that attest to the undeniable quality and significance of this program collaboration, which emancipates research, experimental, and short feature films with which students complete their final exams at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts, passing through all stages of film project development.
The student films realized through this collaboration undergo all necessary internal competitive procedures, including public pitching before a professional Commission that evaluates them and thus further influences the enhancement of the selected students project literacy. This incentive mechanism also contributes to creating a network of connected stakeholders within the audio-visual industry with whom students connect in the early stages of developing their professional artistic careers and the production of their projects, as well as their subsequent professional and artistic development.
As a platform that structurally and highly encouragingly acts to empower young creators just beginning their careers in cinematographic and film activity, modeled on contemporary practices in European countries, this support program and inter-institutional collaboration undeniably represent a strong impetus for connecting public educational institutions and contemporary film production institutions, which will continue to strongly contribute to the promotion of artistic audio-visual education and the future professionalization of the overall film sector in Montenegro.