AWARD-WINNING FILMS

A large number of documentary films and videos in several categories have arrived. The organizers have decided to screen selected films from the world and Serbia on the Film Festival platform – WWW.TESLACINEMAFEST.ONLINE

The winner of the „TESLA CINEMA FEST“ for: 2026, which will be awarded at the beginning of 2026 in New York, is a film coming from Australia.

The TESLA CINEMA FEST – 2026 award (TESLA SPIRIT AWARD) belongs to the film: „FLAME OF MEMORIES“.

Author of the film is Lara Marinković, from Melbourne. An active member of the Serbian community of Serbs in Melbourne. She feels a love for film, with a desire to connect the historical ties of the two peoples. The film „The Flame of Memory” follows Lara Marinković, a twelve-year-old girl from Melbourne, as she discovers an unexpected connection to the land of her ancestors – Serbia. From Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance to the mountains and trenches of Serbia from World War I, Lara explores identity, history and an emotion that no textbook can convey. The film reveals how memory is passed down through generations and how a quiet personal journey can awaken an understanding of the past more powerful than any lesson. „The Flame of Memory” is an intimate story of belonging, heritage and the flame that never fades.

With the support of Dragan Gavrilović, a documentary filmmaker and cameraman from Melbourne. Since 1995, he has lived in Melbourne, where he established his own studio and is one of the founders of Serbian Television in Melbourne. His shows „Serbs from the Fifth Continent” are recognizable on RTS.

He is the author of the award-winning thirty-minute documentary about the Australian-Serbian writer Sreten Božić Wongar and the film „Wasteland” about miners in the remote town of Coober Pedy.

In the FILM category, the award-winning film „RIVERS OF LIGHT: The Birth of Electrified Serbia” was awarded

The author of the film „RIVERS OF LIGHT: The Birth of Electrified Serbia” is Saša S. Ilić. This is the story of how Serbia became one of the first countries in Europe to build hydroelectric power plants based on Nikola Tesla’s patents and explains why Serbia, as a small country, built hydroelectric power plants so quickly and how the rivers in Serbia changed the future of the country.

The author of the film Saša S. Ilić – is the author of the documentary film „THE RIVERS OF LIGHT: The Birth of Electrified Serbia” as well as a large number of documentary films. We highlight: On the excavation of the relics of Saint Abba Justin in the Monastery of Celija near Valjevo. He is the author of the documentary film – Samograd, the City of Gods, which was shown at the ”Charity Film Festival” in Monte Carlo. He is the author of the documentary film, ”The Story of the Studenica Monastery”. In addition to numerous awards and recognitions, he is also the winner of the United Nations Prize for Photography, at an exhibition held at the UN Palace, on the occasion of the Year of Peace in 1986, and the winning photograph was bequeathed to the Kodak Rochester treasury as a cultural asset of humanity. He had ten solo exhibitions in the field of photography in the country and abroad.

In the VIDEO category, the award for the video „TESLA FROM SMILJAN TO NEW YORK“

The video „TESLA FROM SMILJAN TO NEW YORK“ is a video about the journey of a genius, Nikola Tesla, from a harsh childhood in Lika to the light of New York.

Through Tesla’s life, the film tells the story of the power of nature, the perseverance of the spirit and the faith that knowledge can make the world a better place. This is the story of a man who did not belong to borders, but to the universal idea of ​​progress and peace. The video is the author’s personal educational and artistic testament, to preserve Tesla’s light and pass it on to future generations.

The author of the film „TESLA FROM SMILJAN TO NEW YORK“ is Radomir Raša Perin.
A professional nature photographer and cameraman. Rasha, or as he is known from miles away, Rasha Trapper, likes to call himself a „semi-wild man“ who has been wandering, roaming, and breathing with nature for more than 5 decades.