FEST 2003: Belgrade's International Film Festival
2003; Johns Hopkins University Press; Volume: 30; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
1543-3404
Autores Tópico(s)Balkans: History, Politics, Society
ResumoEven if the most famous European international film festival is definitely Cannes Film Festival, and if there are many international film festivals in Europe, there is only one International Film Festival in Eastern Europe, and it is FEST, in Serbia. FEST, International Film Festival in Belgrade, has a 31-years-old tradition. In the words of Mr. Goran Paskaljevic, Chairman of the FEST 2003 board, established Serbian film director: We will do our best to explain to our guests that FEST has prevailed, despite tragedy and war, amid disasters and defeats, because its spirit is best summed up by its continued stance against xenophobia and isolation. This Festival is truly a where the best in local and international cinema meet, it has been said, in a spirit of spiritual communication. During its 30 years, this festival hosted some of the most famous participants in the cinema business. As a cultural event, FEST is meant to give Belgrade and Serbia a more prominent position in today's artistic world. the time when FEST was created, it was planned to be a festival designed for communication, a well-constructed intersection of ideas and experiences, a planned encounter with international film productions, a programmed space in which useful and productive coincidences would take place [Mr. Dushan Makavejev]. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] It is no surprise then, that ex and present Yugoslavia are a perfect for an international film gathering on an outstanding level. At first, FEST was created to give a new political and artistic definition to the Serbian cinema industry. So far the festival has hosted celebrities such as: Roman Polanski, Victoria de Sike, Kirk Douglas, Milos Forman, Gina Lollobrigida, Jack Nicholson, Robert De Niro, Irma Flis, David Puttnam, Jim Jarmusch, Johnny Depp, Beatrice Dalle, Andrew Birkin, A. Goth, Hugo Weaving, and Catherine Deneuve. FEST 2003 featured 95 films from 40 countries. It comprised 12 films from the main program of the Berlin Film Festival. 2003 brought Ken Russell as FEST's honored guest. He received the prestigious Yugoslavian Zlatni Pechat Award for his contribution to the field with such films as Women in Love (1969) with Glenda Jackson, Alan Bates, and Oliver Reed, Music Lovers (1970,) Savage Messiah (1972,) and, of course, Tommy (1974.) 2003 edition of FEST will be remembered for the visit of world famous French singer, and actor, Charles Aznavour, another honored guest of this year's festival. festival opened with Quiet American by Philip Noyce, and closed with the exceptional new Serbian film, Bare Ground, by Ljubisha Samarchic. Jury of the Film Critics and Journalists chose the German film Goodbye Lenin by Wolfgang Becker as the best film of FEST 2003. On the second day of his stay in Belgrade, Charles Aznavour received the 17th Yugoslavian Cinema Zlatni Pechat Award for his lifetime achievements in cinema. Aznavour was invited to FEST for his role in the Canadian film Ararat directed by Atom Egoyan. This film is about the genocide perpetrated by the Turkish Army over Christian Armenians, on the territory of Russia. It is the tragic tale about the holocaust of million and half Armenians in the Ararat province, that tortured and slaughtered between 1915 and 1917. For the director of the film, just as for the Mr. Aznavour, this film has a deep personal meaning. This film is about historical facts and the lies that have been created for political reasons. It is combination of the past and the present story of Ann, a university professor of art history. Her son was sent to the province of Ararat to collect actual pictures and shoots of the countryside, the where the genocide happened, so that a film can be made. About his participation in the film, Charles Aznavour declared: The theme of the film is very close to me and to director of the film. For the first time in my life, I've been communicating with a film director in my own native language. …
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