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The 30th Palić European Film Festival officially opened with the Aleksandar Lifka Award to Bogdan Diklić

The 30th edition of the Palić European Film Festival was officially opened on the Summer Stage in Palić on Saturday, July 15. Stevan Bakić, mayor of Subotica, Radoslav Zelenović, director of the Palić European Film Festival, and Miroslav Mogorović, program director of the Festival, addressed the audience at the opening ceremony.

Stevan Bakić, the mayor of Subotica, among other things in his speech emphasized: "The thirties are usually considered the best age, and that's why this magnificent Summer Stage tonight exudes a special beauty. During its maturation, the Festival has survived many adversities. I guess because it was born at a wrong moment, unaware of what could happen to it. This Festival only confirms that those who are born in a storm and grow up in turbulences, become stronger and more mature. Many people considered it unpromising and predicted a sad end for it, but it has become a real giant. Culture is something that is most important for the survival and identity of a nation, and in that context the jubilee of the Palić Festival is a very significant event".

Radoslav Zelenović, director of the Palić European Film Festival, addressed the audience with the following words: "As Duško Kovačević would say, the Festival has come at its most beautiful age – the thirties. Was it easy - it wasn't. Was it a great pleasure – yes, it was. Could it be greater - probably. Could it be better - hardly. And we were strongly supported by the presidents of our Festival Council, Žilnik, Lečić, Milena Dravić, Mira Banjac, Duško Kovačević".

Radoslav Zelenović added: "On the occasion of thirty years of the Festival, we established a small recognition, replica of the Palić Tower, and there are thirty of them in total. With great professional, but also great personal satisfaction, I hand over the first one to Duško Kovačević".

Playwright, screenwriter and director Dušan Kovačević, president of the Festival Council, after receiving this recognition, presented the Aleksandar Lifka Award to our legendary actor Bogdan Diklić, for his outstanding contribution to European cinema.

On that occasion Dušan Kovačević said: "It is a great honor for me, and I am glad that I can present this great international recognition to my old friend. I met Bogdan Diklić in the early 1970s at the Theater Academy, as the current Faculty of Dramatic Arts was called then. Since that time, more than 50 years ago, we have been hanging out and occasionally working. What I can say and what has certainly been proven is that Bogdan Diklić is one of our most important actors, who have played roles in our famous films."

Upon receiving the Award, Bogdan Diklić said: "I am very happy. I am only a representative of all those people, with whom I worked together during these first 48 years. I sincerely want to thank all the screenwriters and all the directors, with whom I had the honor and pleasure to work. To all directors of photography, sound engineers, make-up artists, costume designers, set designers, clappers, stage masters, light masters, drivers, and so on. It's not courtesy, I'm being honest".

Miroslav Mogorović, program director of the Festival, also addressed the audience: "Every great journey begins with the first step. And we have been on a long journey for thirty years. It is the path we share with the country we live in - sometimes we slightly lose our course, but generally we look in the direction of Europe. For the next seven days, Palić is the European capital of Serbia, thank to you."

Nikolaj Nikitin, programmer of the Official Selection, announced the opening film of the Festival "Jeanne du Barry" directed by Maïwenn. This production depicts the life of Jeanne Becque, who was born as the illegitimate daughter of a poor seamstress in 1743, and who rose to fame at the court of Louis XV, becoming his last official mistress.

The main competition program continues on Sunday, July 16 at the Palić Summer Stage, with screenings "Things Unsaid" by Eleonora Veninova (9 p.m.) and "Seneca: On the Creation of Earthquakes" by Robert Schwentke (11 p.m.). The Parallels and Encounters competition program will be opened on the same day at the Abazija Cinema in Palić, with screenings of the films "Sisters" by Linda Olte (5 p.m.) and "Slow" by Marija Kavtaradze (7 p.m.).

On Sunday, July 16, screenings begin in the sections Young Spirit of Europe, North Macedonia in Focus, New Hungarian Film, Eco Dox, New European Documentary Film and Student Films. Special Screenings program presents the documentary "Invoked" by Luka Papić and Srđa Vučo.

The film program of the Festival takes place at four festival locations: Cinema Abazija (Palić), Eurocinema (Subotica), Art Cinema Aleksandar Lifka (Subotica), and Summer Stage in Palić. The gallery of the Open University Subotica, on Sunday at 6:30 p.m., presents exhibitions "Mija Aleksić - Being an Actor" on the occasion of the centenary of this great actor’s birth, the exhibition of posters of the Palić European Film Festival from the 5th to the 30th edition, and the exhibition "The traces of a time: Film poster 1980-1989", which exhibits film posters from the funds and archives of the Serbian Film Center. Conversation with Bogdan Diklić, Aleksandar Lifka Award laureate in the category of domestic creators, is scheduled for 19:30 at the Great Terrace in Palić.

The Palić European Film Festival was supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia, the Provincial Secretariat 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 partners and media partners.

Gorky List has been a sponsor and friend of the Palić European Film Festival for more than 20 years, as an indispensable part of our artistic scenography, but also a partner that encourages the engagement of the audience to explore the experiences of the presented film productions through the Gorky List Audience Award. This year, the traditional cooperation will once again be extended to the musical part of the Festival program.