On the bank of the Danube, in Cetate, near the borders of Romania, Bulgaria and Serbia, August ends with film screenings, academic symposiums and culinary shows.
Celebrating it΄s first 5 years,
Divan Film Festival -The Divan of Film Lovers and Gourmets- is taking place from
26 to 31 of August.
A festival with a Balkan profile, Divan is set at a few old buildings belonging to a WW1 harbour turned into a “cultural port” by host and poet Mircea Dinescu, a successive chef also, that΄s why the parallel focus on the Balkan cuisine. "Divan FF is not competitive, therefore we can afford to show old films made by our neighbours which can be revelations for audience and specialists [...] so, instead of ΄festival΄ we use for it ΄divan΄, an old word which in many Balkan languages means both sofa and gathering, council" says the
Artisitic Director Marian Tutui.
For this year΄s edition the chosen theme is “Heroes and Anti-Heroes in the Balkans” which will be illustrated by fiction, documentary and animation films, as well as by papers presented in the international scientific symposium that has been accompanying the festival during its last three editions.
"Balkan heroes? Well, they are the most illustrious worldwide. One can begin even with Odysseus who lingered a lot with his chaps on some wild shores. For Giovanni Papini even Achilles and the other Homeric heroes were nothing but a bunch of suckers who have been slaughtering each other for ten years under the walls of a townlet for an overripe woman. We can add to them outlaws like Novak Starina and Doichin who are starring in Romanian, Serbian and Macedonian folk ballads, Nasreddin Hoca and his relatives Pacala in Romania and Hitar Petar in Bulgaria, as well as a series of frenzy dancers such as
Alexis Zorbas or
Kusturica΄s heroes" points out.
"Anti-heroes? It is not about losers as in American films, but about ordinary people such as
Cristi Puiu`s
Lazarescu or the composer in the recent film
Death of a Man in the Balkans by
Miroslav Momcilovic. This year, Divan offers the audience the opportunity to see that in the Balkans both heroism and life exist in an endless transition. Between the Roman retreat and the Turkish invasions, there were nothing else but a lot of transitions. It is not by chance that Lazarescu`s full name is Dante Remus Lazarescu, suggesting a descent in hell, an allusion to the founders of Rome and another one for a man resurrected after death."
The papers of the symposium will be read by nine scholars and film critics from seven countries (Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Great Britain, Serbia, Romania and…China!). The chair-persons, Prof.
Dina Iordanova from St. Andrews University in Scotland and the usual host, Prof.
Marian Tutui from Hyperion University in Bucharest. The other participants will be Aleksander Yanakiev (director of the Institute of Arts Studies in Sofia and professor at NATFIZ Sofia),
Lydia Papadimitriou (professor at John Moores University in Liverpool), Nevena Dakovic (professor at the Arts University in Belgrade),
Ana Grgic (preparing her Ph.D. at St. Andrews University), Wang Yao (preparing his Ph.D. at Beijing Film University), Dana Duma (professor at UNATC in Bucharest) and Abbie Saunders (film blogger from Great Britain and winner of the Best Critic Award of altcinAction! 2013).
Divan FF 2014 will show 64 fiction, animation and documentary films from the Balkan countries.
Every night, the audience will have the pleasure to attend one important film from each Balkan country in an open-air screening, usually presented by the director himself and festival host, Marian Tutui.
Lucian Pintilie
However, there isn΄t any
Divan FF without it΄s Balkan short films program of midday and early evening daily screenings.
Short films from Greece, Kosovo* and Romania:
Anna by Spyros Charalambous, Greece-Cyprus, 2013, 23 min.
The Red Apple by Mentor Berisha, Kosovo*, 2012, 8 min.
Sunday by Sanziana Nicola, Romania, 2013, 13 min.
Our Father by Sergiu Lupse, Romania, 2014, 8 min.
Program of short from Romania, Croatia and Turkey:
Kazimir by Dorian Boguta, Romania, 2013, 24 min.
The Tree by Mihai Sofronea, Romania, 2013, 13 min.
On Shaky Ground by Sonja Tarokic, Croatia, 2014, 29 min.
Yellow Parasol by Ana Opacic, Croatia, 2013, 21 min.
Uncle Seref and His Shadow by Bugra Dedeoglu, Turkey, 2013, 13 min.
Downrise by Eray Demir, Turkey, 2013, 12 min.
The Little Girl by Kakan Berber, Turkey, 2011, 4 min.
Prettyboy by Sasa Ban, Croatia, 2014, 16 min.
Marko by Igor Dropuljic, Croatia, 2013, 10 min.
Program of short films from Serbia and Turkey:
Haulier by Marina Uzelac, Serbia, 2012, 27 min.
Once upon a Time in Jamaica by Eray Demir, Turkey, 12 min.
Tight Space by Hasan Demirtas, Turkey, 2013, 15 min.
Program of short films from altcineAction! Film Festival selected by film critic Abbie Saunders - With the participation of Abbie Saunders and Electra Venaki, founder of altcine:
Program of shorts from Serbia and F.Y.R.O.M. - With the participation of producer Aleksandar Zikov:
Heart by Srdjan Radakovic, Serbia, 2013, 15 min.
The Bag by Marko Sopic, Serbia, 2012, 20 min.
Red Snow by Lika Popadic, Serbia-Switzerland, 2013, 23 min.
Soles de primavera by Sefan Ivanic, Serbia, 2013, 23 min.
Sido by Tamara Kotevska, F.Y.R.O.M., 2013, 12 min.
Heroes in the Balkans - Program of old animation and documentary films:
Noah΄s Ark by Horia Stefanescu,Romania, 10 min.
The Outlaw by Iuri Casap and Leonid Gorokhov, Moldova,1986,10 min
Haplea by Marin Iord, Romania, 1928, 12 min.
Vasilache and Marioara by Jean Petrovici, Romania, 1981, 15 min.
Art Monuments in Brancovan Style by Dumitru Dadarlat, Romania, 1976, 8 min.
Artistic Halt at Hurez by Olga Zissu, Romania, 1976, 19 min.
Danube Destroys and Builds by Ulrich Kayser, Romania- Austria, 1944, 12 min.
Before reminding us about the concerts of the String Quartet of Craiova Filharmonic, of singer Ion Gyuri-Pascu and of the folk band Mambo Siria, and the two culinary shows - one of Turkish traditional cuisine and one inspired by old Roman recipes,
Marian Tutui added: "We shall have more than 100 hundred Romanian guests among whom the prestigious veteran film director
Lucian Pintilie who will attend the special screening of his film
An Unforgettable Summer after 20 years from its first night. We shall also have no less than 22 foreign guests. Among them we can mention directors
Mihajlo Jevtic,
Pavo Marinkovic,
Stanislav Donchev and producers like
Martichka Bozhilova".