THE WORLD IS FULL OF UNTOLD STORIES.
RENT-A-STORY WRITES STORIES FROM SERBIA FOR YOU
The agency was founded with the idea of serving as your reporter from Belgrade and Serbia, providing interesting stories about people and events taking place in this part of the world. Rent-a-story works as a free-lancer: small and flexible, the agency is a one-woman show. Depending on the type and scope of the work, timeline, and deadlines, the agency hires experienced freelances - photographers, cameramen, translators, and designers.
MEDIA
NEWSPAPERS
MAGAZINES
TV AND RADIO
ONLINE OUTLETS
NEWS AGENCIES
TEXT
INTERVIEWS
FEATURES
REPORTS
LIVE COMMENTARIES
COVERAGES
PHOTO & VIDEO
REPORTS
COVERAGES
SPECIAL EVENTS
ONLINE CONTENT
FESTIVALS
ABOUT ME
Aleksandra Ajdanić
LOOKING BACK – I’ve been in journalism for years. I started at times when reporters had nothing but typewriting machines, landline phones and old analogue photo cameras on their disposal. But we traveled a lot, meeting with and learning about people of different cultures, traditions and beliefs, and reporting about what was going on in the world.
Is it easier now? It may be, but with all the hi-tech communication channels available and instant news, we miss something. I think we miss real stories.
EXPERIENCE – I have worked for all types of media and reported about various events and from various places: about street demonstrations and places and people torn by wars, parliament sessions in Brussels and at the UN, from Wimbledon and Roland-Garros tennis tournaments, about presidential elections in the U.S., France and Great Britain, film festivals and annual gatherings, and numerous international conferences. I also worked for L’Europe, the official publication of the EC at times when it was becoming EU (Maastricht Treaty). I was also granted the World Press Institute Fellowship in 1998.
FAVORITE TOOLS OF REPORTING – I have covered all topics, using all journalistic forms. My favorite tool of reporting are interviews and reportages, since they both include complex and intriguing forms of conversation. I believe that there is nothing that powerful in journalism like a good interview. I have conducted hundreds of them with people from all over the world. Some of them, among many others, include:
– Greg Marinovich, South African photojournalist, member of the Bang-Bang Club and Pulitzer prize winner for Spot News Photography,
– Menahem Golem, Israeli director and producer,
– Nicholas Wood, former British war correspondent, now director of Political Tours, calling people to travel the world ”beyond headlines”,
– Sir Bill Cash, British MP, and the Bruges Group prominent member campaigning against Federal Europe (interview conducted in 1992, at times of Brentrance)
– Boris Podrecca, architect and urban designer, considered by some critics a pioneer of postmodernism;
– Wilder Rideau, former death row inmate in Louisiana, who became an author and award-winning journalist while in prison,
– David Albahari, writer with two homelands (Israel, Serbia) who lives in the third one (Canada).
– Djordje Varda, artistic director in Ritz Hotel, Paris, known for his fabulous floral designs
RENT-A-STORY – In brief, I have been telling stories all my career. That is what I know and love to do. That is why the Rent-a-story exists.