How complex is this project and what are the personal challenges when creating a film festival in a year when consequences of world economic crisis are still very present? Surely, for the whole team of people it was a great challenge and an extremely complex task of finding the best possible solution for the situation we are in. Preparations for the Festival lasted for months and yes, we are faced with many problems but we’re still trying to, despite everything, further develop and improve the established concept of the Festival, which in the last two years proved to be a success. An enormous amount of creative energy is invested and we hope it will be reflected on the entire edition of this year’s Festival.
Does the concept of the Festival significantly differ from previous two years and what do you regard as main framework of this year’s Cinema City Festival?
Our concept and the light motif of the Festival: “The whole city is a cinema” proved to be a direct ht and this year will not be exception. From the beginning we set high standards and it remained our ambition to date. A strong and quality author programme is the whole purpose of our Festival. We want to grow and improve ourselves, to which will surely greatly contribute the visit of famous Hollywood and music star, Juliette Lewis, who will officially open Cinema City. Next to numerous VIPs of the Festival, Juliette will surely be a sensation which will mark this year’s edition of the Festival and I am sure she is a subject of many conversations and will remain to be so even after the Festival is finished. I would like to recognize music programme of the Festival, especially a party at Petrovaradin fortress where many musicians will perform alongside Juliette, mainly The Good Guys, E Play and many others.
Would you be able to single out your own must-see film favorites or some of the film selections that particularly caught your eye?
Film programme is extremely varied, a motley assembly of auteur films with special regard as to their quality. That being so, last year’s edition was visited by more than 70.000 people. Besides recommendations directed to specific film selections, I’d like to single out this year’s Animatrix, which will surely be attractive for many, since it screens an excellent choice of Japanese animas but also premieres films inspired by famous comic book hero, Corto Maltese.
What would be your vision of this Festival and how close are you to realizing it with this year’s edition?
Organizing such a festival is no easy task. Cinema City team already has two years of experience behind them and, naturally, they have ambitions that are greatly thwarted this year, not only by financial moment but also by great limitations in infrastructure. Those are main reasons why this year we won’t be able to realize a Drive In cinema but that is an ambition we will not abandon and we plan to achieve it in some of the later editions of the Festival. Unfortunately, the construction works at Arena Cineplex won’t be finished by the time the Festival starts, but we will find the best possible solution that will help us overcome this problem. Despite recession and difficulties regarding city’s cinema infrastructure, the creative energy we invest into mechanism of the Festival, as well as a great audience, which keeps supporting us are all the things which are bringing us closer to our vision of gaining a prominent place on the map of world festivals.
