The 33rd Herceg Novi Film Festival - Montenegro Film Festival, this year with the slogan “All Day on Film” will be held from the 1st to 7th of August. The programme for the festival was revealed at a press conference by the President of the Board Marija Perović, together with Feature Film, Cinema Europe and Midnight Screenings Selector Ivan Bakrač, Festival Business Director Zoran Živković and Director of Herceg Fest Gordana Krcunović.
The festival will commence with a premiere screening of the film “Grudi” (Breasts) by Marija Perović (out of competition) and “Dohvati nebo” (Reach the Sky), by director Milutin Darić.
President of the Festival Board, director Marija Perović, stated that this year they would be supporting the idea, promoted at other festivals, regarding equal participation of women in film. Along these lines, actors Mira Banjac, Dubravka Drakić, Marija Škaričić and “all women present” would together be opening the festival.
Perović said she believed that the festival was much enhanced, with showings of more films in a variety of categories, although there would be no highly-regarded documentary film category.
Film and TV director Ivan Bakrač, Winner in short film category at international festivals and selector for the Slobodna Zona Film Festival, assessed the second half of 2018 and first half of 2019 to be extremely successful for Montenegrin Cinema as, besides the major productions that were premiered at prestigious film festivals in Venice (Ti imaš noć - You Have the Night) and Montreal (Između dana i noći - Neverending Past), and the four smaller Montenegrin co-productions premiering at major festivals in Karlovi Vari (Mamonga), Sarajevo (Sam samcat - All Alone, Granice kiše - Borders, Raindrops) i Palić (Ajvar), two Montenegrin films will premiere in Herceg Novi (Grudi and Dohvati nebo). With such a good start, there was no question that the other films selected in the main category should have a focus on Balkan cinema, explained Bakrač.
During the week-long festival, Kanli Kula Fortress will be also be hosting public screenings of Ti imaš noć (You Have the Night) by Herceg Novi director Ivan Salatić (Montenegro), Monstrumi (Monsters) by Marius Olteanu (Romania), short film Peloid by Bojan Stijović (Montenegro); Između dana i noći (Neverending Past) by Andro Martinović (Montenegro, Serbia); Mamonga by Stefan Malešević (Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro); Bog postoji, ime mu je Petrunija (God Exists, Her Name is Petrunia) by Teona Strugar Mitevska (North Macedonia, Belgium, Slovenia, Croatia, France), Sam samcat (All Alone) by Bobo Jelčić (Croatia, Netherlands, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina); Šavovi (Stitches) by Miroslav Terzić (Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina); Küçük Şeyler (Little Things) by director Kıvanç Sezer (Turkey); Ajvar by Ana Maria Rossi (Serbia) and Granice kiše (Borders, Raindrops) by Vlastimir Sudar and Nikola Mijovića (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, Sweden, Great Britain). Cannes Winner Parasite by director Bong Joon Ho (South Korea) will be shown out of competition at the closure of the festival.
The jury for the official selection comprises director Vinko Brešan (Croatia), actor Nikola Ristanovski (North Macedonia), producer Dunja Klemenc (Slovenia), producer Jelena Mišeljić (Montenegro) and director Nikola Ljuca (Serbia).
The selector for student film this year is once again director Dušan Kasalica. Films will be shown in the Dvorana Park (Park Hall) Amphitheatre. In total, 16 short films from the region’s film schools (Cetinje, Belgrade, Zagreb, Skoplja, Sarajevo and Romania) will be shown during the festival. The jury for this selection comprises producer Bojana Radulović (Montenegro), director Dušan Grubin (Serbia) and screenwriter and director Eleonora Veninova (North Macedonia).
The Cinema Europe selection includes films that have been particularly successful in major European festivals. Films shown will include Portrait de la Jeune Fille en Feu (Portrait of a Lady on Fire) by Céline Sciamma, My Extraordinary Summer with Tess by Steven Wouterlood, Alice et le Maire (Alice and the Mayor) by Nicolas Parisier, Le Jeune Ahmed (Young Ahmed) by Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne, Lara by Jan Ole Gerster, C'est ça l’Amour (Real Love) by Claire Burger, Il Traditore (The Traitor) by Marco Bellocchio, Dolor y Gloria (Pain and Glory) by Pedro Almodovar, Synonyms by Nadav Lapid, Sorry We Missed You by Ken Loach, Celle Que Vous Croyez (Who You Think I Am) by Safy Nebbou, Bashata (The Father) - featured in the main selection - by Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov, and El Reino (The Candidate) by Rodrigo Sorogoyen.
Midnight screenings in Dvorana Park, an idea started by Ivan Marinović, have received the full support of this year’s selector Ivan Bakrač. The local public will have the opportunity to see films shown at the biggest festivals - Cannes (Liberté - Freedom and Zombi Child), Berlin (Die Kinder Der Toten - Children of the Dead, and Répertoire des Villes Disparues - Ghost Town Anthology) and Toronto (High Life).
This year, one absence is the category of documentary film, with the resignation of the segment’s selector Vladimir Perović.
Responding to journalists, Marija Perović, Zoran Živković and Gordana Krcunović explained among other things that this year, as ever, they had been working on the same terms and in the same circumstances, and that Perović had been present at all the festival Board meetings up until June. When he announced his resignation, a replacement was not sought as very little time remained until the opening of the festival. However, it was noted that particular attention would be paid to documentary film, starting with cooperation with Beldocs Festival, and as a separate programme. It was indeed noted that documentaries deserve particular attention, but it was noted that the Herceg Novi Festival was primarily conceived with full length feature films in mind.
Repeated suggestions were accepted that the festival needs continued preparation throughout the year and that the programme should be announced earlier, however Marija Perović recalled that many aspects of the festival may need to be amended, in spite of its long-standing tradition, and added that The Cannes Festival is planned for May with good reason. However, decisions on this level not only need to be taken by the Festival Board, but also the relevant authorities (Herceg Novi Municipality and The Ministry of Culture), particularly due to the fact that the event is of national significance to the culture of Montenegro.
Source: Radio Herceg Novi
All photographs: Zvezdana Kujović
