At the Niš Film Festival, Ana Marie Rossi's documentary film "Trump in the sleeve" about the actor Svetozar Cvetković was shown. Here are the details of the conversation between the two held on the occasion of the film
Na Niš Film Festival as part of the revue program, a documentary film was shown A trump card about the actor Svetozar Cvetković. The film was directed by Ana Maria Rossi.
The day after the screening, a "Conversation behind the camera with Svetozar Cvetković" was held, led by the director of the film, Ana Maria Rossi. The conversation opened up topics that did not find a place in the film, from the roles he refused and later regretted, through cooperation with great Yugoslav directors and actors, to the position of actresses and the question of what actually prompts an actor to accept a certain role.
Cvetković is a film about himself in Niš A trump card watched it for the third time, and only now, with the reaction of the audience, did he feel that the story works for those who do not know his career.
About mistakes, about directors...
In discussing what was left out of the documentary, he particularly dwelled on the mistakes in casting.
"A lot of time passed until I realized that I should not choose the roles, but they should choose the roles for me," said Cvetković.
Photo: FB Center FilmTika Stanić and Cvetković before the start of the movie
A large part of the conversation between Ana Maria Rossi and Cvetković was dedicated to the directors with whom he worked at the beginning of his career: Dušan Makavejev, Živojin Pavlović, Goran Paskaljević, Stolet Popov and others. He talked about them not only as authors with whom he collaborated, but also as people who determined his attitude towards acting.
Film A time of miracles He singled out Goran Paskaljević as one of the moments when he began to look at his work differently. His unfulfilled wish is cooperation with director Rajko Grlić.
"It is my privilege that I met people and that in the years between my 20s and 30s they became my directors and I became their actor. It rarely happens and I think I am really privileged that it is like that. It can be called luck," he said.
Creating an imaginary life
He sees filming as "creating an imaginary life. During those months and a half, you create a life with the people you work with, which has nothing to do with your real life," said Cvetković. In those short-lived film lives, he added, friendships, loves and relationships are born that sometimes can hardly survive when the shooting is over.
Photo: Southern NewsSvetozar Cvetković at the Niš film meetings
One of the topics that was left aside in the documentary is - female partners.
Cvetković said that she sees the acting job of an actress as particularly difficult, because her professional position changes with age in a way that does not happen to men.
"An actor gains years, his years in the public eye, in the film industry. And an actress, unfortunately, even if she doesn't win, she loses something. And what she loses hurts terribly," he said.
About the Festival
He also spoke about Film Encounters, a festival that would have been 60 years old this year if it had not been interrupted. He recalled that many actors and directors with whom he worked were part of the festival's history, won awards and came to Nis with their films.
"It was also their festival. They received awards here and they were here with films", said Cvetković, assessing that it is important that the people who marked domestic cinematography should not be forgotten.
"Nothing starts from us and nothing starts from them. Everything started much earlier and that which started earlier and which earlier produced a result and some artistic quality, remains forever and is a trace", he said.
"Film has the privilege of being a trace in eternity. Theater is the art of forgetting, and film is duration. This festival proves it."
According to him, the importance of the festival is not only in its duration, but also in the fact that it is held at a time when, as he said, the authorities "do not take into account whether cinematography exists or not" for years.
"We can watch 21 films in this place and each of those films was shot with great effort, with great enthusiasm and with a great desire to leave exactly that mark on that place".
The view is crucial.
At the end of the conversation, Ana Maria Rossi quoted Goran Marković who in the film A trump card says that the biggest roles are still waiting for Cvetković. That sentence, answered Cvetković, makes him happy and scared at the same time.
Photo: FB Centtar filmAna Maria Rossi and Petar Benčina at the premiere of the film
What decides whether to accept a role: text, director, partner, conditions or money, asked Ana Maria Rossi. Cvetković reduced the answer to people.
"When someone calls me for a job, usually the first question I ask before I read the script is: who are the people I'm looking in the eyes. That look between the actors is crucial," he said.
Svetozar Cvetković's answer to the question about his attitude towards his own work led the conversation to the essence of acting, to the game.
"An actor must preserve the ability to play with himself, his partner and the expectations others have of him," said Svetozar Cvetković.
The Niš film festival under the slogan "More than the game" organized by the Association of Film Actors of Serbia, ends tomorrow, September 3, with the award ceremony and the awarding of the "Pavle Vuisić" Lifetime Achievement Award to Anica Dobra for the year 2025.
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