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The 28th Palić European Film Festival officially opened

18.07.2021.

On Saturday, July 17, the 28th Palić European Film Festival was opened with a solemn ceremony at the Summer Stage in Palić. This year, the Festival is being held at several locations, including the unique Summer Stage in Palić, as well as the Eurocinema, Abazija and Lifka cinemas.

Stevan Bakić, the mayor of Subotica, addressed the audience, stating that the fact the Festival has returned to the old format, and that it is held outdoors, in front of his loyal audience, made him happy.

Stevan Bakić also said: "National premiere of the domestic film production based on the novel by Bora Stanković is especially important because such projects make a great contribution to nurturing Serbian history and culture. When we talk about the best that Serbia has, we send special congratulations to this year's Aleksandar Lifka Award laureate Aleksandar Berček. His, one can freely say immortal, interpretation of the Serbian historical character Miloš the Great in 1980 TV drama The Death of Karađorđe and Vuk Karadžić series was the first encounter of many of us with the personality of the great Serbian statesman. These art works have made an immeasurable contribution to the arousal of interest in national history among the Serbian people, and the affirmation of the culture of remembrance in Serbia."

The Mayor of Subotica emphasized that the City of Subotica fought for the Palić Film Festival last year, to be held at the time of Corona, when all major festivals in the world were postponed or canceled.

Radovan Jokić, Assistant of Serbian Minister of Culture for Contemporary Art and Creative Industries, said at the opening ceremony: “This festival is not just a mere collection of newly created films, a linear presentation of selected films. It is certainly not just that, but it is an extremely valuable and almost three decades nurtured space of transversal opinions, multidimensional artistic projections. What makes it especially valuable and significant is that it is truly a place for artistic events, as a methodology of unrest and unwavering search."

The Honorary Aleksandar Lifka Award for her contribution to regional cinema was presented to Milena Zupančič from Slovenia, one of the most important Yugoslav actresses. On the occasion of receiving the award at the opening ceremony, she stated: "It is a great honor for me to get this award, especially because I receive it from Mira Banjac, a legend of Serbian acting. I am glad that I have not fallen into complete oblivion, even though I have been doing very little for last 30 years, since Yugoslav society parted so sadly. But I am very happy, since I am currently working at a theater in Belgrade, and it is great that we are all together again."

Romanian producer Ada Solomon was presented with the Underground Spirit Award assigned by the Palić European Film Festival for outstanding work in the field of independent cinema, as well as for a unique approach to film language and authentic authorial poetics built outside the mainstream of the industry. On that occasion Ada Solomon said: "I am really honored and touched. My relationship with the Palić Festival has lasted for a long time. I have sent a lot of my films here to you and I hope you enjoyed them, but I have never been able to come, so far. I am here for the first time and only now do I understand why this place is so special."

German director Christian Petzold is this year's Alexander Lifka Award laureate for his contribution to European cinema in the category of foreign creators. Petzold won the German Film Award and the Best Hessischer Award for his first film, The State I Am In (2000), about a pair of left-wing terrorists. He won the Best Director award for his film Barbara (2012) at the Berlinale. His latest production Undine was screened at 2020 Berlinale, when the main actress Paula Beer won the Silver Bear for the best female role, and the same year it was screened in the Main Competition Program of the European Film Festival Palić. The award was presented to the German director by Miroslav Mogorović, program director of the Palić European Film Festival.

After he received the award Christian Petzold said: "I am really honored and I am always very nervous on a stage. Here, I see a scene similar to a forest in East Germany, from my movie Barbara, but this forest is much better."

Serbian actor Aleksandar Berček won Alexander Lifka Award for his contribution to European cinema in the category of domestic creators. This legendary artist graduated from the Academy of Theater, Film, Radio and Television, and has acted in over 120 films and plays. For the cult role of Miško in Who Is Singing over There by Slobodan Šijan, he won the Golden Arena in 1980. In the last decade, the audience remembers him for his role in film and series Professor Kosta Vujić's Hat, the cinema hit South Wind and other works. In 2001 he won Pavle Vuisić Award for his life's work. The award was presented to the doyen of the local theater by Radoslav Zelenović, director of the Palić European Film Festival.

During the ceremony, Aleksandar Berček stated: "Thank you very much for remembering me. This ought to happen, to be honest. And now it's much easier for me. The award is in my hands, and the festival can start."

The main competition program of the Palić European Film Festival was opened with the screening of The Mauritanian directed by Kevin McDonald, with double Oscar winner Jody Foster. The celebrated actress is in the role of Nancy Hollander, a lawyer who takes over the case of Mohamedu Ould Slahi (Tahar Rahim), a Mauritanian accused of hiring terrorists who crashed planes into the World Trade Center towers on September 11. The script is an adaptation of Slahi's Guantanamo Diary published in 2015.

On the second day of the festival, on Sunday, July 18, at the Summer Stage in Palić, the Main Competition Program at 9 pm presents film Blue Flower by Croatian director Zrinko Ogresta, and from 11 pm film France by Bruno Dumont. In the Parallels and Encounters program, at the Abazija cinema, the repertoire consists of films The Boy by Vitaly Akimov (5 pm), A Devil Jumping Around by Zéphir Moreels and Alban Mercier (17:50) and In the Mirror by Laila Pakalnina from Latvia (7pm).

On Sunday at 14:30 Cinema Abazija in Palić opens exhibition Camera through time - lenses of history, a collection of film cameras that marked the greatest moments of film art, and at 16:30 the Eurocinema in Subotica opens exhibition Traces of a Time - Film Poster 1945-1970, dedicated to film posters from the holdings and archives of the Serbian Film Center.