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Mira Banjac: At the Palić Festival, I feel like I am part of the family

17.09.2020.

On the fifth day of European Film Festival Palić, on Wednesday, September 16, films UNDINE by German director Christian Petsold and DAU. NATASHA by Russian director Ilya Khrzhanovskiy were screened in the main competition program – Official Selection. In the Parallels and Encounters, the repertoire included film KILL IT, THEN LEAVE THE TOWN (Mariusz Wilczyński, Poland) and MATRIARCH by Croatian director Jure Pavlović.

Our legendary actress Mira Banjac, former president of the Palić European Film Festival board and this year's special guest of the Festival, said at the press conference: "I am emotionally attached to this festival. I feel like I am part of the family, not only of the Festival, but also of the people around. We recognize each other and it’s nice when I meet people along the way who know the Festival is here. This year, people made an immeasurable effort not to stop the Festival." Mira Banjac also referred to her relationship with the director of the festival, Radoslav Zelenović: "Mr. Zelenović is the backbone of this festival, at his invitation I am in this festival in general, long before the Lifka Award and my participation in festival started. But it is a legacy for me that I have to be there with the festival while I still have health and I can contribute something ". She added about the significance of this event: "Festivals are a window to the world; they are days of thinking about the aesthetics of various people, and a benchmark where we are." Those meetings with people are precious. "

Composer Zoran Simjanović, a current member of the Palić European Film Festival Council, pointed out that he was glad this year's Festival was held and added that it is not only important because of information, or watching films that will not be shown elsewhere: "Festivals have a fantastic educational role. When you follow an audience watching a movie, you see exactly whether you did something wrong or not. That is one of the functions of the festival that I appreciate a lot. "

Dragan Stojmenović, director of THE GARDEN OF THE TRITON, shown in Eco Dox program, said about the specifics of film shooting: "I was afraid because the text is in verse, so that it wouldn't be too much. However, the effect was completely opposite and I am very glad about that. Any kind of art can be sublimated in film, so poetry is in fact a natural element." The film also sends a very important ecological message, director underlined: "Artists deal with film because of the relationship between people." In the 21^st century, at this moment, there may be something even more necessary and important, and that is the relationship between man and nature. I think that film has great power to change people's consciousness in that direction."

Multimedia artist Zoran Tairović and film producer Ana Renovica presented the International Festival of Short Films with the Roma theme FROM at the press conference, whose fourth edition was held at the end of August this year in Mali Iđoš.

On the last day of the festival, on Friday, September 18, in the EuroCinema, film THE SALT OF TESRS by French director Philippe Garrel will be shown in the Main Competition Program at 8 pm, while the film HOTEL BELGRADE by Russian director Konstantin Statskiy will be out of competition at 10 pm , with Miloš Biković in the lead role. In the Parallels and Encounters program, at 7:30 pm in Abazia Cinema, the repertoire includes FELIX AUSTRIA aka MAID-IN-LAW by Ukrainian director Christina Sivolap. At 9:30 pm, the program screens ROUNDS by Stefan Komandarev. A special screening of HOLD ME RIGHT, the documentary film by Daniela Štajnfeld takes place in Abazija Cinema at 5:30 p.m.