INTERNATIONAL COMICS FESTIVAL
SALON STRIPA, SKC BELGRADE, SERBIA
September 26^th – 29^th, 2024

CONTEST OF THE 21^st  INTERNATIONAL COMICS FESTIVAL 2024

Total number of works submitted to the contest: 131

Total number of participants: 146

The number of countries from which the entries were submitted: 23

The countries from which the entries were submitted:

Australia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Morocco, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Turkey

Jury:

Jury composed of: JASMINA PUCAREVIĆ, graphic designer and head of the program services of the Student Cultural Center, chairwoman of the jury; UROŠ PETROVIĆ, writer; ALEKSA GAJIĆ, comics artist; NIKOLA DRAGOMIROVIĆ, comics theorist and NEMANJA BAĆKOVIĆ, comics editor in Politikin Zabavnik magazine, will give following awards on september 26^th, during the opening ceremony:

• GRAND PRIX
• AWARD FOR THE BEST TRADITIONAL STYLE COMIC
• AWARD FOR THE BEST ALTERNATIVE COMIC
• AWARD FOR THE BEST SCRIPT
• AWARD FOR THE BEST GRAPHICS
• SPECIAL JURY AWARD FOR INVENTIVENESS

as well as Awards For The Authors Up To 15 Years Of Age:

• YOUNG LION SPECIAL AWARD
• SPECIAL JURY AWARD FOR THE BEST IDEA
• SPECIAL JURY AWARD FOR MATURITY AND IMAGINATION
• SPECIAL JURY AWARD FOR THE YOUNGEST AUTHOR

AWARDS OF THE FRIENDS OF THE FESTIVAL:

• SYSTEM COMICS PUBLISHING HOUSE AWARD
• LOKOMOTIVA PUBLISHING HOUSE AWARD
• DARKWOOD PUBLISHING HOUSE AWARDS
• AWARD OF MAKONDO & BELI PUT PUBLISHING HOUSES
• BESNA KOBILA PUBLISHING HOUSE AWARD
• AWARD OF KEN STRIPOVI COMICS STORE
• AWARD OF BAPUSS ACADEMY, ART DEPARTMENT
• SPECIAL AWARD OF POLITIKIN ZABAVNIK MAGAZINE

A WORD BY THE JURY:

The Diversity of Expression Across all Generations

Every honorable jury is happy when faced with difficult choices. The job of judging is a kind of jury duty that delivers a value judgment on the works in focus, putting itself in the background and serving only to select the artwork that, according to established criteria, presents the best form of artistic expression. The more choices there are, the harder the job of selection becomes. All the works submitted to the 2024 Comics Festival competition, each in its unique way – be it through quality or style choice, or simply the number of participants – have seriously challenged this year's jury.

Details about the submitted works can be read elsewhere in this catalog. It is enough to say that 131 comics from 23 countries speak volumes about how relevant the Festival is in the comics scene. This relevance is reflected in the collection of submitted works, whose authors – in this case, candidates for the offered prizes – have exposed themselves to critical judgment to win one of the awards.

Should we highlight the demographic structure of the participants, given the number of comics from the mentioned countries? Absolutely. It is extremely important to note that one-third of the comics (46) are works by children up to 15 years old! In today's society, where we are increasingly concerned about the potential, if not already present, cultural decline that predominantly affects the youngest, it is gratifying to see that these very generations are striving to counteract all the negative consequences of anti-culture. The youth are the ones who tell us not to worry and who take an active role in keeping comics culture vibrant and alive. Under the significant influence of the global mainstream –primarily referring to the currently dominant Japanese comics – a large number of younger participants' entries rely on manga. But not just manga; they also draw from other elements of today's pop culture scene. This is commendable, not worrisome, as it shows how actively they follow the scene and trends. They also dare, very successfully, to boldly and passionately critique what they see as the detrimental aspects of today's society.

The older participants, who are already established as the bearers of comic culture, whether as recognized authors or newcomers, continue their mission of building the ninth art. A natural process of creation, the evolution of styles, and narrative flourishes are noticeable, as are those who adhere to established patterns but execute them skillfully and traditionally as before. However, in the richness of styles and artistic expressions, the jury was most impressed by the uniqueness of a large portion of the submitted works. This uniqueness, along with the already mentioned quality of the works by younger participants, is the biggest winner of this year's Comics Festival in Belgrade.

Nikola Dragomirović, comics theorist