The 3rd Free Zone Film Festival, Belgrade

Another kind of Hero

Created out of the belief that a good film experience can last much longer than its screening time, the third edition of the Free Zone Film Festival is taking part these days in Belgrade. On Friday November 9th, the Cannes Jury Award winner "Persepolis" is opening the festival, which is dedicated to using film as a means to promote human rights and foster debate on socially and politically urgent issues in the world today


By ANNA WEITZ
Free Zone Belgrade Festival Team


While mainstream movie theaters most often showcase a world of stereotypes and unachievable ideals, film festivals can provide access to alternative depictions of reality. Films produced by independent authors far from Hollywood studios are often as painful as they are eye-opening - but at their best, they leave their viewers with the feeling of freedom and responsibility that comes with being an active citizen. In these cases the art of film can actually make a difference.

"Casual and meaningless heroism dominates most of today's films. This year's 'Free Zone' offers you a different kind of film hero in feature films and documentaries which have finally arrived in Belgrade from various world film festivals," says Marko Popovic, the film selector of the festival.

Two Croatian films selected

Among these heroes is Marjane Satrapi - the rebellious girl depicted in "Persepolis," a film adapted from the graphic novel of the same name. "Persepolis" is based on the director's own childhood in Iran during the revolution and her teenage years in the West, where she was sent for her safety but could never feel entirely at home. Other heroes include the "indigenous" soldiers of North Africa in "Days of Glory", who fight for the French Army during World War II but find they are denied the basic rights taken for granted by their French counterparts. There is also Michael Moore, scrutinizing the for-profit health care system in his latest documentary, "Sicko," which will have its Serbian premiere at Free Zone.

From the regional film scene, two Croatian films have been selected for inclusion in Free Zone. "Bad Blue Boys", directed by Branko Schmidt, speaks about the impossibility of Croatian war veterans reacclimating to today's Croatian society. "In 4 Years," which won director Nebojša Slijepčević the 2007 European Documentary Network Talent Award, follows 26-year-old Damir, who is determined to become a Hollywood star in spite of being completely paralysed after a car crash.

Short films highlight different views on Europe

New to this year's festival is that every screening will include a short film. Each of the shorts comes from a different European country and was produced within the project "Visions of Europe," launched in conjunction with the 2004 enlargement of the EU. Directed by respected European filmmakers - including Theo van Gogh, Aki Kaurismaki and Peter Greenaway - the films deal with problems that are highly relevant in Serbia, such as borders, immigration, bureaucratic institutions and the power of the government and large corporations.

Free Zone is not only an increasingly popular annual film festival, but also a part of a broader initiative that runs throughout the year under the auspices of the Rex Cultural Centre. Rex hosts monthly screenings of socially engaged films, and a selection of these are then shown in the Free Zone Festival Tour, which this year visited 15 Serbian cities.

Visit the Free Zone Belgrade website, www.freezonebelgrade.org, for the festival program and extensive background information about the topics dealt with in the films.


(Published: 09.11.2007.)

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