The first, and therefore historic, edition ended last night on Sunday with the awards ceremony at Zlatibor of the National Film and Television Festival - NAFFIT. The film won the most awards Mother of pearl fog directed by Milorad Milinković - for best film, direction, screenplay, and sound design.
The prize fund of 15 million dinars was supposed to be divided into 16 categories, but - it was not.
It was decided not to award the actors.
Punishment for actors
In the official announcement, there is no explanation as to why the actors were left out. That is why the explanation given to the regime media by the director and initiator of the Predrag festival, Gaga Antonijević, will go down in history:
"We just respected their will. First they canceled their own Film Encounters festival in Niš, and then they tried to cancel this one in Zlatibor as well. We didn't want people to struggle to come. It was easier this way, and I hope that from next year actors will listen less to political provocateurs in high heels. Art should be freed from politics, and actors are welcome to this festival."
Antonijević's allusion concerns the fact that the Association of Film Actors boycotted NAFFIT. It is not clear why the jury decided to punish only them, and not the directors, screenwriters and all other film artists of Serbia, given that NAFFIT was boycotted by all film associations. They boycotted because they did not want to participate in the festival, which was organized without consulting them, even though it is national, and for which the state wholeheartedly set aside money, even though it did not have a dinar for filming.
Lolita Davidović likes Serbian actors
To make the paradox (read: bruka) of the decision to punish the actors greater, Lolita Davidovich, a guest of the festival from Hollywood, said from the stage that "Serbian actors are the best actors in the world as far as I'm concerned! Both male actors and female actors are so great, they're so great!"
Regime media put this statement of hers in the headlines of articles about the Zlatibor festival because it corresponds to their kind of patriotism, not realizing how much the actress' words conflict with everything they write about Serbian actors.
Lolita Davidovič and her husband, the director Ron Shelton, were brought to Zlatibor to give the organizers of NAFFIT and the Čajetinska authorities something to brag about to the uninitiated.
Selaković's admiration
Because of Lolita Davidovič, Minister Nikola Selaković came to Zlatibor again (he was also at the opening) and personally presented her with an award for her contribution to Serbian cinema. The list of films in which Lolita Davidovic has starred since 1981 is impressive, but there is not a single Serbian film in it.
In awarding her the award, Nikola Selaković first reminded that her dream of acting success "was always colored by love for the land of her ancestors", and then explained that he was awarding her the award because of what "is the most important for us, that she always proudly emphasized her Serbian roots, that she was active in our Orthodox community in California and that, regardless of world fame, she always found a way to stay close to Serbia. Today, at this festival that builds bridges between our cultures and the world stage, we present the recognition as a sign of admiration and gratitude. Dear Lolita, thank you for your work that proves that art has no boundaries, but that the heart knows where its home is."
The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, also praised the meeting with Lolita Davidović and her husband, today, Monday.
Meeting between Vučić and Davidović
On Instagram, he explained to the people that the Hollywood couple is in Serbia visiting NAFFIT "organized by director Predrag Gaga Antonijević", which is the first public announcement of this kind about the National Festival - until now, Antonijević has only been mentioned as an initiator.
Vučić even said that he owes "gratitude to Antonijević for his vision and energy, because festivals like this promote Serbia and open new doors to international cooperation."
On that occasion, he said that "the state will continue to support culture and the film industry in order to make Serbia a reliable home for great stories and inspiring encounters."
Let us remind you that this year none of the three compulsory competitions of the Film Center of Serbia for filmmaking were announced, the competition of the City of Belgrade for co-financing of culture was cancelled, and the results of the competition of the Ministry of Culture for contemporary creativity have not yet been announced, and the deadline was in April.
