The Association of Film Producers of Serbia (UFPS) strongly condemned the statements of the actor and producer Lazar Ristovski during the final convention Serbian lists in Zvečan, with the assessment that such a public appearance, "full of hate speech and inappropriate language", is extremely harmful to social dialogue in Serbia and the region, as well as to the reputation of the profession.
The association particularly condemned these words of Ristovski:
"All those who for months in Serbia raise their bloody hands on the streets, in the faculties and theaters, hey, in the theaters, in the holy place, forget those bloody hands that expelled 250.000 Serbs from Krajina, from Croatia, forget the bloody hands up to the elbows that killed hundreds of thousands of Serbs in Jasenovac."
The association points out that the use of such "inflammatory rhetoric" in public discourse is irresponsible and dangerous, unbecoming of a cultural worker who should always contribute to calming, not inciting, tensions.
It was pointed out that what makes that statement hypocritical is that Ristovski, through his production company "Zillion Film", achieved a total of 13 co-productions with Croatia, of which nine Croatian films were financed in Serbia, while four Serbian films were financed in Croatia.
What did Ristovski get money for?
The Croatian films for which Ristovski received money in Serbia are: "Južina" (2023), "Block 62" and "Flight of the Bumblebee" (2021), "Holy Family" (2020), "Blue Flower" (2019), "Koja je ovo druja" (2017), "From the Side" (2014), "National Hero" and "The Priest's Children" (2013). The Serbian films for which Ristovski received money in Croatia are: "White Lions" (2009), "Dnevnik mašinovođe" (2014), "Pijavice" (2015) and "Accomplices" (2022).
In those co-productions, "Zillion Film" secured almost 800.000 euros from the Film Center of Serbia (FCS) and the Croatian Audiovisual Center (HAVC), of which 580.000 euros were received in Serbia for the financing of nine Croatian films, UFPS stated.
Those funds are not private, but were obtained through public tenders of FCS and HAVC and represent budget funds of the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Croatia intended for the development of the film industry and international cooperation.
"So, while on the one hand Mr. Ristovski successfully and as an example to everyone uses the benefits of these state funds to finance his projects, on the other hand, for political purposes, he spreads inflammatory rhetoric of division and intolerance towards the same partners with whom he has been cooperating for years." Therefore, we invite Mr. Lazar Ristovski - the producer, to remind Lazar Ristovski - the speaker at political gatherings, of the importance of cultural cooperation and harmonious coexistence of the peoples of Serbia and Croatia", it was announced.
"To Mr. Ristovski, who also stated that 'students should be ashamed, and the professors who taught them that vileness and that freakish history, let them have a great historical shame', we say: the shame is on the other side, not on those who fight for truth and justice!", concludes UFPS.
