Word of artistic director Rada Sesic
‘What do I know’ is the title of an esoteric and contemplative short film from Bosnia and Herzegovina that premiered last year in Venice. This self reflective question could also stand as the motto of our film festival. What do we know about our neighbours, those who are knocking at the door of the European Union? How much do we know about ordinary people in Romania or Albania? Does our knowledge exceed common prejudices and notions? That’s why we present in The Netherlands films from Eastern European countries, those which already are or soon will be part of the EU family.
Politics and cinema
After the establishment of new political systems or even whole new states in the East and South of Europe, filmmaking became more than just a matter of culture. It is considered to be the most profound manner of expressing the national identity, giving it a recognisable voice that echoes abroad. It is also an attempt to reflect on the political events as well as to re-conciliate and connect with one another.
Another reason for showing Eastern European films, music and culture to Dutch audiences is to broaden the knowledge and views regarding different religious groups and their culture. Balkan countries such as Bosnia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Albania and Kosovo have a quite large European Muslim population. Islamic presence is even noticeable in countries with a Christian majority, such as Serbia and Macedonia. Do we understand our Muslim neighbours? Why do we fear them? Films and music are impregnated with notions from the local culture, history and spirit. Why not watch and enjoy them to gain a better understanding of each other?
Opening film
A remarkable debut by Andrea Staka, the Swiss produced film Das Fraulein (Gospodjica) is a strong yet subtle story of three women from former Yugoslavia whose separate lives come together by working in a small bar in Switzerland. Fantastic interpretations of Serbian actress Mirjana Karanovic – our special guest at the opening of Eastern Neighbours – and Marija Skaricic, a Croatian actress playing a Bosnian girl, keep the audience in suspense till the very end. Although the film has its starting point in the war, it tackles universal issues like loneliness and longing. It also contemplates on national and cultural identity. The film won a Golden Leopard at the Locarno festival and later on several other important awards.
Country in focus – Macedonia
Macedonia is a Balkan country very much in focus right now, with the tensions concerning Serbian resistance to Kosovo’s independence at one border, conflicts with Greece at another as well as long lasting political and cultural strive with Bulgaria. Macedonian cinema reflects these stories in its new productions, yet it is still rather unknown. While Bosnian films, as well as Serbian, get much attention in the press, Macedonian cinema remains a bit aside. That’s why we bring now to the Dutch audience new and exciting cinema done by daring, young talents as well as by known directors as Milche Manchevski (Before the rain) and veteran author Stole Popov.
A forbidden film
During the communist regimes, quite a number of films have had ‘postponed’ premieres, sometimes even waiting for a decade or two to be screened for the first time. Prints were taken out of cinemas and kept on basement shelves; directors were prosecuted and severely punished. Lazar Stojanovic from Belgrade is one of them. He was actually the only director in the former Yugoslavia that was sentenced to jail (3 years) just for making a film. His Plastic Jesus made in 1971 got released and screened only in 1991 after the fall of the regime and won the Montreal Film Festival Fipresci prize in the same year. What was so threatening for the Communist party in this diploma film, that making it meant for the young film maker and his professor to be deprived of practising their profession for many years? Next to the screening of this film, Eastern Neighbours will bring this subject closer to you by presenting an engaging documentary and having a debate about the issues involving freedom of expression in cinema.