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"By launching such a festival by Lake Bled, one of the most beautiful places on earth, the festival wants to join the global ecological community to save the world," Šerbedžija told the press on Friday.

The idea for the festival, which will take place between 17 and 21 June, came up a decade ago during a film set but finally started to be realised in 2011, festival initiators Marko Gajić and Danijel Utješanovič said.

The 40-strong festival staff includes big names such as director and actor Branko Đurić and his spouse, actress Tanja Ribič.

"This makes us celebrities on a mission, joined by the objective of doing good and seeing bad," Ribič said, adding that she hopes that the festival will remind people to protect the environment.

The selection of 12 competing pictures will be announced in May. Winners of the festival awards, dubbed Wishing Bells, in six categories will be selected by a jury chaired by the Oscar-winning Bosnian director Danis Tanović.

The competing films will be screened at the Festival Hall in Bled during the day, while the documentaries on water issues will be run in Bled Castle. Additionally, a feature film by Serbian Srđan Dragojević will be screened every evening.

"Our goal is to make it to the list of the top film festivals in the world," Gajić concluded ambitiously.