News

Press Report / Day 6

21.07.2022.

On the sixth day of the European Film Festival Palić, on Thursday, July 21, at the press conference on Great Terrace speakers were Senka Domanović, director of the film "We Didn't Start the Fire", György Turós, actor in the film "Gentle", Michael Thomas, Inge Maux and Tessa Göttlicher, actors in the film "Rimini", Károly Eperjes, director of the film "Mercy", Gia Agumava, actor in the film "Wet Sand", Vesna Popac, representative of Vojvodina’ Chamber of Commerce, and Mila Peršin, representative of the Kino Otok Izola Festival.

Senka Domanović, director of the film "We Didn't Start the Fire" shown the previous evening in the Young Spirit of Europe section, spoke about the inspiration for working on this production: "I tried to explore the concept of anarchism. The film is set in 2014 and the main male character comes from Greece as an anarchist, before the rise of Tsipras, Syriza, and all those events. I took that as a metaphor through which I examined my relationship with the world and society. The film has its own way and is mostly popular at activist’s festivals".

György Turós, actor in the film "Gentle", shown in the Official Selection of the Festival, described his experience working on the film: "I was and still am an athlete. I'm not an actor. This is my first role and the lead one as well. They were looking for an actor who would fit such a role, and it was a big challenge for me to be up to this task". About the main actress Ester Csonka, who is also an athlete, Turós said: "She had anorexia and dropped to 40 kilograms, so she had to fight with this demon. At the persuasion of her brother, she went to a gym and started developing her muscles again. As in the film, she achieved results in this sport that motivated the screenwriters and the entire film crew".

Michael Thomas, the main actor in the film "Rimini", for the role of the former pop star Richie Bravo, also stood out with his vocal abilities: "I sang almost 20 songs, and 10 or 11 of them were in the film. I am primarily an actor, but I also sing. I've done some great musicals; it's like my second life”. He said about the main character of the film: "Richie Bravo is a rocker. He doesn't sing rock and roll, but he rules his life that way. He doesn't care what people say about him, he lives his life his way and is not interested in the rules imposed by society".

Károly Eperjes, director of the film "Mersy" shown in the "New Hungarian Film" section, spoke about the theme of the film, which depicts the struggle between communism and the church. "On June 8, 1950, began a process in Hungary in which 12 priests were eliminated - some died, some were killed, some fled abroad or took off their priestly clothes. I also have a personal connection to this story and it is important to me, because two of my relatives also died. One escaped to Munich and the other died in prison. I believe that this is the greatest spiritual exodus that happened in the Hungarian 20 th century history".

Gia Agumava, an actor in the film "Wet Sand" shown in the "Parallels and Encounters" section, talked about the collaboration with the director Elene Naveriani: "I got the role by accident, after we met at a mutual friend's house. Then we had meetings and discussed the script, but I had no idea that I would get this role. Working with her was very interesting and we became friends".

Vesna Popac, representative of Vojvodina’s Chamber of Commerce, spoke about the panel discussion announced for 3 pm in the Eco Center: "The topic will be event tourism and the audiovisual industry in Vojvodina, and the speakers are the Provincial Secretary for Economy and Tourism Nenad Ivanišević, Ilija Tatić and Miroslav Mogorović from the European Film Festival Palić, and Saša Milivojević, director of the Shakespeare Festival. Some of the topics are the synergy of event tourism and creative industries in the promotion of tourist destinations, then the obstacles the audiovisual industry is facing, and the way it can influence the promotion of our country and the attraction of foreign investments.

Mila Peršin, actress and one of the programme selectors at the Isola Cinema Island Festival, presented in the Young Spirit of Europe programme, spoke about this event: "This June was held the 18 th edition of the Festival. We do not have a competitive programme, but we have selection of about 80 films of all lengths. In the "Video on the Beach" programme, we have a section of short films from all over the world, where we also present Slovenian productions of documentary, experimental, amateur and student films".

On the last, seventh day of the festival, on Friday, July 22, on the Summer Stage in Palić, the Main Competition Program presents the films "Final Cut" by Michel Hazanavicius (out of competition) at 9:00 p.m., and the film "Pamfir" by Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk at 11:00 p.m. In the section "Parallels and Encounters", at the Abazija Cinema in Palić, presents the films "Feature film about Life" by Dovilė Šarutytė and "Dodo" by Panos H. Koutras.