This year’s Balkan Survey section, programmed by Dimitris Kerkinos, presents a tribute to Serbian director Goran Paskaljevic. Paskaljevic will attend the 50th Thessaloniki International Film Festival to present his films, conduct a Masterclass and will be honored with a Golden Alexander for his contribution to the art of cinema.

“The Thessaloniki International Film Festival is celebrating its 50 years of life by developing a dialogue concerning the nature and role of cinema today. The humanist work of Goran Paskaljevic, defying stereotypes and avoiding didactics, reflects in the best possible way this precise need for our repositioning in a society that is rapidly changing”, states Festival Director Despina Mouzaki.

The majority of Paskaljevic’s films will be screened during the Festival, including his first two shorts and his new production, Honeymoons. Honeymoons is the first Serbian-Albanian film co-production in history, co-financed by the Albanian Film Center and the Serbian Ministry of Culture. The script, which the director co-wrote with Albanian screenwriter Genc Permeti, recounts two parallel stories: one about an Albanian couple and one about a Serbian couple, both immigrating to Western Europe under similar circumstances. In the director’s words, “With this film we demonstrate that Serbs and Albanians are capable of giving each other an open arm and collaborating…It seems artists understand each other better than politicians. There is no ancient hatred between our countries. It was invented by ultranationalists on both sides and this stopped us from meeting, knowing each other and exchanging experiences”.

In Honeymoons, as in virtually all of Paskaljevic’s films, there are no overt political statements. As the director often stresses himself, his principal interest in filmmaking lies in the simplicity of the everyday human stories and the everyday human emotions. The politics, when present, are implicit and infused with a dark brand of humour that Paskaljevic says is quite particular to the Serbs. His characters, quite often people faced with heavy odds and on the edges of society, reflect life faithfully and are full of sentiments, although his films never veer into melodrama. After four decades of films, Paskaljevic is considered one of Eastern Europe's leading filmmakers.



THE FILMS OF THE GORAN PASKALJEVIC RETROSPECTIVE


Mister Hrstka (Pan Hrstka), 1969, 10 min, Yugoslavia
The Legend of Lapot (Legenda o Lapotu), 1972, 26 min, Yugoslavia
Beach Guard in Wintertime (Cuvar Plaze U Zimskom Periodu), 1976, 89 min, Yugoslavia
The Dog who Loved Trains (Pas Koji Je Voleo Vozove), 1977, 85 min, Yugoslavia
These Earthly Days Go Rolling By (Zemaljski Dani Teku), 1979, 85 min, Yugoslavia
Special Treatment (Poseban Tretman), 1980, 94 min, Yugoslavia
Illusive Summer ’68 (Varljivo Leto '68), 1984, 88 min, Yugoslavia
Guardian Angel (Andjeo Cuvar), 1987, 88 min, Yugoslavia
The Time of Miracles (Vreme Cuda), 1990, 98 min, Yugoslavia
Tango Argentino, 1992, 93 min, Yugoslavia
Someone Else’s America (Tudja Amerika), 1995, 95 min, France / Germany / Greece / UK
The Powder Keg (Bure Baruta), 1998, 100 min, Yugoslavia
Midwinter Night’s Dream (San Zimske Noci), 2004, 95 min, Serbia & Montenegro
The Optimists (Optimisti), 2006, 95 min, Serbia
Honeymoons, 2009, Albania / Serbia / Italy