Serbian designers reap rewards for originality, quality and style
Belgrade streetwear brand Dechko Tzar is harnessing Serbia’s new-found business optimism and greater access to international markets to create significant uplift in interest and sales at home and abroad.
Dechko Tzar is one of a number of creative brands that is reaping the rewards of a more favourable market for small businesses, upgraded production processes and faster distribution routes.
The entry of PayPal into Serbian market has also added to the environment of opportunity, enabling international shoppers access to home grown products such as Dechko Tzar’s range of fashionable clothing and colourful accessories.
“The opportunities are there for our taking and, as we grow, so do our ambitions,’ said Nikola Radojčić, a co-founder of Dechko Tzar.
European shooting star Nikola Rakocević shines in Travelator
A teenage refugee hired by Serbia gangsters to carry out a hit in Las Vegas could be a story like so many other Balkan films.
But seen through the eyes of innovative director Dušan Milić and fronted by über-talented actor Nikola Rakocević, it conjures an award-winning film that has deservedly attracted international critical praise.
Travelator won the coveted Innovation Award at the Montreal World Film Festival.
Celebrated Serbian actor Nikola Rakocević was recognised as a Shooting Star at the 2014 Berlin Film Festival, placing him among the top ten most promising actors in Europe and marking him out for a bright future in film.
Travelator proves the judges at that prestigious festival were spot on in their assessment of the 31-year-old Serb actor.
Film is a dying art, says Serbian director Dušan Milić
Film is a dying art and cinemas will soon become museums, according to award-winning Serbian director Dušan Milić, whose film Travelator is making its mark at international festivals.
Dušan Milić sees falling cinema receipts, audience apathy and the surplus of comic book rehashes as symptoms of the demise of cinema.
Changing appetites, new viewing habits and over-cautious investors all contribute to the downfall.
“Cinema is not in a good condition,’ said Dušan. “It has lost a lot of its glamour in recent times.
“Film as an art form is dying. Cinemas will soon be like museums. I don’t think culture is important to people anymore. As for the arts: nobody loves art anymore. Art is passé.
British-Serbian relations celebrated in heroic tale of women at war
The heroism of two women who met on the battlefields of Serbia will be recalled in a play to debut in London, this month, before a proposed tour of Britain and Serbia.
(un)decorated will portray the forgotten story of Yorkshire-born adventurer Flora Sandes (pictured right) and the most decorated female soldier in the history of war, Serbian shepherdess Milunka Savić (pictured below).
The Serbian City Club production at London’s Royal Central School of Speech and Drama commemorates the centenary of the Great War and is supported by the British Embassy in Belgrade and the Serbian Embassy in London.
This relationship is at the heart of the story, which emphasises the strength of diplomatic relations between the two countries for 177 years – one of the longest in British political history.
