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Radivoje Bukvić: “I am glad that we have Mira Banjac alive, healthy, and full of joy at 94 years old”

25.07.2024.

A press conference was held on the sixth day of the 31st European Film Festival Palić at the Grand Terrace, on Thursday, July 25. Speakers included director Manuel Martín Cuenca, producer Predrag Bambić, director Zoltán Siflis, director and actor Radivoje Bukvić, director Lea Vidaković, programmer of the Student Film section – Dejan Dabić, representatives of the 21114 Fim Fest - Marina Todić, Dunja Makša, Teodora Jonuzović, and Sara Dedić, author of the book “Special Cadre” Jelica Stojančić, and one of the authors of the texts in this book – Dragomir Zupanc.

Manuel Martín Cuenca, the director of the film "Andrea's Love", screened in the Official Selection program, spoke about the themes raised by his film: "I think that young people have problems with drugs and addiction because they do not find a place in the world that welcomes them with affection and love. While doing research for the film and then casting, we met about 500 people. I found that most young people are very worried about what is happening in the family, with their parents and friends. And of course, they worry about love".

Predrag Bambić, producer of the film "The Planet of Slivova" screened in the Eco Dox program, said about this film and its protagonists: "We found a small village called Slivova, where several larger families live in 5-6 hamlets. Through hard, manual, diligent work they manage to build a kind of utopia, their own little world in which they know law and order. But they are afraid because their village is only five kilometers from the planned lithium mine. They are very aware that modern civilization is based on mining, and they do not want to stop the development of their country, but at the same time, they would not want to leave".

Zoltán Siflis, the director of the documentary film "Death of a Goalkeeper", screened in the New Hungarian Film program, about the life and tragic death of the former football representative Géza Siflis, spoke about the research background of this film: "We knew we had a relative who was very famous, but we didn't know why he was liquidated by the Rákosi regime in Hungary. I was not the first to try to discover this secret, and at first, we had nothing but the family legend and only eight photographs. After an intensive search, we found out about a tragic fate similar to a Greek tragedy – he married a Jewish woman, and it was his family that liquidated him".

Actor Radivoje Bukvić directed the short film "One More Day" starring Mira Banjac, and this film was screened the previous day in the Young Spirit of Europe program. He said about last night's emotional screening at Palić: "Mira Banjac plays the one and only role in the film. It was a kind of challenge for both her and me as a director, to put one character in one situation and location, and to try to make something exciting, attractive and interesting. Yesterday, in the cinema hall called ‘Mira Banjac’, we had the opportunity to show those 15 minutes of a meticulously tailored story that managed to evoke emotion. I was especially glad to have Mira Banjac, alive and well at the age of 94, full of joy, in her hall, where the audience experienced both positive and negative emotions, which was the aim of the film. I am very glad that Mira was present yesterday and I will remember that moment for a long time."

On the seventh and final day of the festival, Friday, July 26, at the Summer Stage in Palić, the festival awards will be given to the best European films at 9:00 p.m., after which Quentin Dupieux's film "The Second Act" will be screened in the Official Selection program out of competition. In the Special Screenings program, the documentary film "Warm Film" directed by Dragan Jovićević will be screened at the Abazija Cinema at 6 p.m. The European Film Festival Palić has been supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia, the Provincial Se

cretariat for Culture, Public Information and Relations with Religious Communities, the City of Subotica, the European Union through the Creative Europe MEDIA program, as well as numerous friends and media partners.