1st WEEK OF NEW SERBIAN CINEMA (2012)

Original title: 1η εβδομάδα Σύγχρονου Σέρβικου Κινηματογράφου

Project Author and Creative Producer: Zvonimir Šimunec
Date: March 8th – 14th, 2012
Films screened: 15
Venue: Athens Film Archive, Athens, Greece

With the undivided and relentless assistance of the Greek Film Archive, the1st Week Of New Serbian Cinema, commenced in the second week of March. The event was held under the auspices of the Embassy of the Republic of Serbia in Athens and the Cinema Centre in Serbia.
The organization focused on Serbian cinema productions of the last decade and the audience was given the opportunity to learn about the work of old and new Serbian directors.
The director and chairman of the Serbian Film Centre, Darko Bajić, along with many stars and authors of the films screened were in attendance. During the week of Serbian Cinema, 15 fiction films were screened, 13 of which were presented for the first time in Athens, like ‘Montevideo’, the Serbian blockbuster and ‘Tilva Roš’, the strong social drama that won awards in many festivals.
Moreover, two documentary films were presented: ‘Cinema Komunisto’ and ‘O Gringo’, both also participated in the International Documentary Festival of Thessaloniki later on.
No better person to explain what the idea behind the realization of the 1st Week of New Serbian Cinema in Athens than the celebrated film director and honored professor, Darko Bajić. In his own words, the selection of films for the festival was brought down to a difficult task – those chosen must testify an abundance of ideas of the younger generation in a world of awarded authors and simultaneously portray the strong imprint of acknowledged masters in the directorial world. Two were also chosen as specatucalr historical blockbusters that managed the gigantic task of returning specators to movie theatres across the region, such as Montevideo, Taste of a Dream by Bjelogrlić and Saint George Shoots The Dragon by Dragojević.
Authors representing the Serbian film industry suggested it be dedicated to the tragically deceased director Theo Angelopoulous, a great man of world cinema, for the festival to be in his honor and as a form of respect and gratitude for all his work and comitment.

The organizing committee, sponsors and partners wished to contribute an even more constructive cooperation between two very similar European industries – Greece and Serbia.

FILMS SCREENED:

Tilva Roš (2010, dir. Nikola Ležaić)
White, White World (2010, dir. Oleg Novković)
Montevideo, Taste Of a Dream (2010, dir. Dragan Bjelogrlić)
Skinning (2010, dir. Stevan Filipović)
Solemn Promise (2009, dir. Srđan Karanović)
Here and There (2009, dir. Darko Lungalov)
Honeymoons (2009, dir. Goran Paskaljević)
St. George Shoots The Dragon (2009, dir. Srđan Dragojević)
Love and Other Crimes (2008, dir. Stefan Arsenijević)
The Tour (2008, dir. Goran Marković)
The Trap (2007, dir. Srđan Golubović)
Ordinary People (2009, dir. Vladimir Perišić)
When Father Was Away on Business (1985, dir. Emir Kusturica)
O Gringo (2010, dir. Darko Bajić)
Cinema Komunisto (2012, dir. Mila Turajlić)