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Stefan Arsenijević and Zrinko Ogresta presented with AFIFS awards at the 29 th European Film Festival Palić

19.07.2022.

On the third festival evening of the 29 th European Film Festival Palić, on Monday, July 18, on the Summer Stage, the awards of the Serbian Association of Film Festivals (AFIFS) were presented to the directors of the past year’s best films. The film "As Far as I Can Walk" by Stefan Arsenijević won the Award in the category of domestic feature films, and "A Blue Flower" by Zrinko Ogresta in the category of Serbian minority co-productions. The awards were assigned by the jury composed of three journalists who continuously follow the seventh art - Tatjana Nježić - Blic journalist, Zorica Dimitrijević - SEEcult portal journalist, and Vladimir Džudović - Radio Belgrade journalist.

Stefan Arsenijević was presented with the Award by the jury member Zorica Dimitrijević who, on this occasion, pointed out: "Serbian film production has become quite extensive recently and with all that quantity, it's time to focus on quality, in order to value and recognize the best".

Upon receiving the Award, Stefan Arsenijević said: "This award means a lot to me, especially since it comes from people and professionals whose opinion and work I really appreciate. This is the closing of the circle - when we started writing this film, one of the first researches we did was to talk to migrants not far from here, in an old brick factory. Those meetings and conversations with real people changed us forever and showed us the direction we should follow while making this film".

The jury explained the Award to the film "As Far as I Can Walk" with the following: "Using a commendable film language - which talks about the most difficult things in a subtle, refined, picturesque and eloquent yet powerful way - Arsenijević layered local tradition and mythology with a more than acute, burning issue of the modern world (migrations) and the plagues that plague these areas as legitimate so-called values with the bitter taste that leaves the effect of norms and "justice" of the developed world on which all eyes are focused. After a long, long time, there was a Serbian film in the main program of the A category festival, Festival in Karlovy Vary, where it triumphed, and then continued achieving success at other international events as well."

Tatjana Nježić, the member of the jury, presented the award for the best Serbian minority co-production to the director of the film "A Blue Flower" Zrinko Ogresta who, upon receiving the award, said: "This is my eighth feature film, and all of them have been screened at festivals in Serbia. Simultaneously with the invitation to the Festival in Palić, I received an invitation to go to two more festivals that are being held at the same time - one in the south of Italy, and the other in Egypt. But as you can see, I am here today".

Tatjana Nježić read the explanation of the jury, which states: "Through the story of a modern woman, her teenage daughter and her mother whit some health issues, and her ex-husband and 'forbidden partner', by a strong and unpretentious film poetics - the film examines (im)possibility of communication, not only between different people but also the possibility of inner dialogue, pointing to ominous consequences and giving a striking picture of contemporary society, characterized by hopelessness of all generations as a consequence of (neoliberal) context in which property means everything and man means nothing."

The Association of Serbian Film Festivals was founded in 2021 at the initiative of Serbia Film Center, and its members are European Film Festival Palić, Film Screenplay Festival (Vrnjačka Banja), Festival of Actors' Achievements - Film Encounters (Niš), Leskovac International Film Directing Festival, Festival of Author Film (Belgrade), Šumadija International Debut Film Festival (Kragujevac) and "Moving Picture" Film Festival (Novi Sad).

Last year, the Memorandum of Cooperation was signed between Serbia Film Center and the representatives of the seven film festivals in Serbia, aiming to establish cooperation for the joint action to encourage and improve public screenings in the field of domestic cinema, decentralization of the cinema infrastructure, promotion of domestic film productions realized with support of Serbian Film Center, joint support for professional development in the field of cinema activities, mutual promotion and exchange of professional knowledge, experiences and good practices in the field of festival screenings.