Ivana Todorović (Belgrade, Serbia; formerly Yugoslavia) is a filmmaker of short, socially engaging films that explore trauma and recovery through empathy. She created her work primarily in Belgrade, with one film produced in New York City, and she currently lives and works between Arizona and Belgrade.
Her films have screened at major international festivals including the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale Shorts), International Film Festival Rotterdam, Sarajevo Film Festival, Palm Springs International ShortFest, Dokufest, and the Guadalajara International Film Festival, among others.
Her work has been featured in The New York Times and Aeon, and presented at cultural institutions such as Anthology Film Archives and Maysles Documentary Center (New York City), Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona, Frauenmuseum Hittisau (Austria), and the International Institute of Social History (Amsterdam).
In addition to filmmaking, Ivana leads masterclasses and documentary filmmaking workshops internationally, and serves as a selector and jury member at various international film festivals.
She was selected for the Immigrant Artist Program at the New York Foundation for the Arts in 2010, and was an artist-in-residence at Saari Residence, Finland, in 2015.
She is currently developing two new films: a documentary set in the Sonoran Desert and a fiction film in Belgrade.
Education
MA in Fiction Film, Faculty of Dramatic Arts, University of Belgrade
Graduate Certificate in Documentary Media Studies, The New School, New York City
Ateliers Varan, two-month summer documentary filmmaking workshop, Belgrade
Diploma in Peace Studies, one-year program, Belgrade
BA in Ethnology and Anthropology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade
Awards:
2023
Best Short Documentary Film — End of the Road, Festival de Cine Independiente de Salto, Uruguay
Best International Film — End of the Road, Oregon Documentary Film Festival, USA
Best Short Film — End of the Road, UnderHill International Documentary Film Festival, Podgorica, Montenegro
2022
Best Foreign Short — When I’m at Home, Hollywood New Directors, Los Angeles
2021
Best Narrative Short — When I’m at Home, LA Independent Woman Film Awards, Los Angeles
Best International Filmmaker (for When I’m at Home), LA Independent Woman Film Awards, Los Angeles
Best Director — When I’m at Home, Jelly Fest, American Film Institute, Los Angeles
Woman Film Critics Award — When I’m at Home, Socially Relevant Film Festival, New York
2020
Future Award — When I’m at Home, BHHIF Festival, Paris
Best Woman Film — When I’m at Home, Independent Spirits Awards, Los Angeles
Honorable Mention — When I’m at Home, South Eastern European Film Festival, Los Angeles
Best Student Film — When I’m at Home, Shorts to the Point, Bucharest
Best Woman Achievement Award (Teamwork) — When I’m at Home, Balkan New Film Festival, Stockholm
2013
Best Balkan Documentary Film — When I Was a Boy, I Was a Girl, Dokufest, Prizren
Best Short Documentary Film — When I Was a Boy, I Was a Girl, Thessaloniki International Short Film Festival, Greece
Best Short Documentary Film — When I Was a Boy, I Was a Girl, South Eastern European Film Festival, Los Angeles
SeeFest No Limit Award — When I Was a Boy, I Was a Girl, South Eastern European Film Festival, Los Angeles
Best National Documentary Film — When I Was a Boy, I Was a Girl, Belgrade Documentary and Short Film Festival
2011
Audience Award — A Harlem Mother, Fear No Film, Utah Arts Festival, USA
Audience Award (Best Story Film) — Rapresent, Film for Peace, Milan, Italy
2010
Best Documentary Film Profile — A Harlem Mother, Mixed Messages Film Festival, New York
Honorable Mention — A Harlem Mother, Carolina Film & Video Festival, Greensboro, North Carolina, USA
Grand Prix — A Harlem Mother, Videnie Film Festival, Russia
2009
Best National Film — Rapresent, International Festival of Ethnological Film, Belgrade, Serbia
2007
Best Short Film — Everyday Life of Roma Children from Block 71, Human Rights Film Festival, Montreal
Special Mention — Everyday Life of Roma Children from Block 71, Ethnographic International Film Festival, Belgrade