Writer/Director/Producer
Finished the school of documentary film Ateliers Varan, Paris, where she learned that the filming should go straight from the heart. Holding MA in ethnology and anthropology with the special interest on mythological creatures from the Balkan and their influence on the contemporary culture. Dedication toward two love, film and ethnology, resulted as the position of the program editor of the “Int Festival of Ethnological Film”.
In her first films “Lucky Draw” and “Day of Youth” mise-en-scène was her own family and through self-portrait she spoke about relevant social and political themes. In her newest film “The Flood” the topic is the submerged town. How to invoke the past in the present is theme of the main characters of the film but also the Jelena’s task to do the same in picture and sound.
With her films she participated at the Leipzig Festival, Cinema du Reel, Paris, ZagrebDox Festival, MFA Int. Film Festival Illes Balears, and many more. Among her awards are: YU FIPRESCI Award, International Festival of Short Meter, Belgrade, 2006, Bronze Award, Int. TV Festival Bar, Monte Negro, 2006, Special Award for the original author’s approach, Int. TV Festival Bar, Monte Negro, 2006.
In the role of producer she did 6 documentaries. She is one of the founders of the “Atelier Varan Belgrade” aimed at the production and promotion in the field of documentary film. The association produced 22 documentaries that have supported by the French Embassy, the Media Fund EAR, Ateliers Varan Paris, the national TV RTS, the Open Society Institute, the Ministry of Culture etc. Working as a selector of program at festivals in Sopot (2005) and Nis (2006), as well as a selector of accompanying program of the Film Festival of Serbia, Novi Sad (2007). Today she is one of the founders of the “Remorker”.
She also enjoys teaching and sharing her knowledge and skills in a field related to film with students through lectures and workshops at universities and festivals, both in Serbia and Czech Republic.
Believing that film is not separated from the life and what we believe in, she finds her inspiration and artistic approach in it and from the new life experiences from which she never runs away.
Some of Jelena’s earlier films can be found on the following links:
IGRA/LUCKY DRAW, 2004
DAN MLADOSTI/DAY OF YOUTH, 2006