July 14, 2020 - The film "Forever Hold Your Peace" (Živi I Zdravi), by Montenegrin director and screenwriter Ivan Marinović, was supported as a minority co-production within the competition of the Czech Film Fund of 3.5 million kroner (about 130,000 euros), which is the most significant amount awarded in this competition.
In a communication from the Commission, they explain that the author of the film, Ivan Marinović, who graduated in film directing at FAMU - the famous Czech film academy, returns to his homeland with a bitter wedding comedy after the internationally successful debut film "The Black Pin" with the screenplay "Forever Hold Your Peace." Analog Vision, produced by Veronica Kuhrova, has applied for support. Evaluating the script as excellent, and with the desire to enrich the repertoire with quality comedy, the Commission assessed the connection with FAMU as positive, alongside the desirable additional representation of Czech filmmakers in the project.
According to Marinović, the competition's result is much above the expectations and hopes with which the production applied. "Currently, the situation in cinematography is global, and we are approaching all the necessary competitions with great caution to assure the film's financial configuration. Such strong support from the Czech Fund encouraged us because it means recognizing quality, especially if you look at the well-known names of other winners. We're still rather modest in the world of cinema though, and we're not used to this kind of victory. For me, as a Prague student, this is also significant on many levels. I feel a kind of pride and gratitude because the film, as a minority co-production, will formally become a part of great Czech cinematography, whose creators have always been my role models."
Shooting for the film "Forever Hold Your Peace" is planned for 2021. It has been recognized with the Krzystof Kieslowski Awards at the Script East Script Development Program in Cannes in 2019, as well as the Excellence Award at the Cinelink Co-production Market in Sarajevo the same year.
Marinović's second feature film "Forever Hold Your Peace" was supported for production by the Film Center of Montenegro. So far, the co-production participation of Sense Production- Milan Stojanović has provided funds through competitions for minority co-productions of the Film Center of Serbia, and support for development competition from the European umbrella institution MEDIA. Development support was also received from the European SEE Cinema Network organization. "Forever Hold Your Peace" is a production of the Adriatic Western Company, and the primary producer of the film is Marija Stojanović, with whom Marinović successfully collaborated on his debut film.
Although the Covid-19 pandemic has somewhat slowed down production preparations, filming is planned in the Bay of Kotor and is expected to be completed in 2021.
