Taking a control- A New Author Film Festival
Unlike 90s when Belgrade’s Author Film Festival started career, today New Author Film Festival 2007 depicts one of a popular cultural events in the city of Belgrade. Only Belgrade in Serbia today has about 7 film festival events occurring during entire year and every each of them has to fight for his audience. Even so, if this festival (exists 13 years) is not the brand new anymore, and regarding the heavy competition and size of the budget, it recorded a massive sale, a 20 000 tickets sold. This is a very good considering the fact that movie theatres in Belgrade (where you can see a commercial film) are closed down and empty.
The choice of films was very diverse and it sticked to a festival’s concept. This is an art house film festival with distinctive author stamp. A festival that has the aim to keep sort of “underground’ image and to avoid industry glam. Even so, if today an author or an art house film has better image and acceptance then in 90s during the Milosevic’s repression, it still has the same flavor, no matter of a domestic filmmakers who like to present an independent filmmakers’ status a lot worse then it really is.
One of a side program of the festival was the conference which discussed the position of an author film in a film industry today, run by a Serbian film maker professor Vlada Petric and guests of the festival; American director Nora Hoppe and English film director Jon Sanders. Hoppe directed one of the festival films: a marvelous Italian film, starring with Miki Manojlovic “La Fine del mare”. Eventually, Special Award of the festival went to “Control” directed by Anton Corbijn, a biography of a gothic band in 70s Joy Division, A Freedom of Art Award went off to a Turkish film, “Takva - A Fear From God” and a main Aleksandar Sasha Petrovic Award went to Romanian film director for the film “California Dreaming” Christian Nemescu.
Among special festival quests Belgrade audience warmly welcomed French director Enki Bilal gladly accepting his brand new film “Cinemonster” which was treated as a special event of a festival. Also, there were other respected guests such as British film director who was also in the jury of festival Julian Richards, Ron Holloway an American film critic and a Spanish actress from film directed by a Hollywood star Antonio Banderas “Summer Rain”, Maria Ruiz Cruise.
By Radmila Djurica
