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We caught up with Goran Paskaljević on a Jat flight from Belgrade to Rome. Paskaljević was going to the Italian capital to attend the International Mediterranean Film Festival. Paskaljević travels often, for both private and business reasons, and it was good to hear from him that he chooses to fly with Jat, whenever possible.
In addition to the premiere of Optimists at the Mediterranean Festival in Italy – which was highly acclaimed by the audience and was awarded best film at the Festival – the New York Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) has organised a retrospective of Goran Paskaljević's movies that will be viewed in January. The retrospective at one of the world's leading museums is phenomenal international recognition of the significant and successful career of a film director with a unique film opus. Then there came the news of the high French recognition…
What does the Order of Arts and Literature, the recognition that France bestows to internationally known artists, mean to you?
- I am certainly honoured and convinced that this high recognition will motivate me even more to make new movies that will be discussed and written about, and thus prove once again that I deserved the award. I especially like the fact that with this order I repaid a debt to my maternal grandfather Bora Pavlović, who would probably have been the most proud of me because he was part of the brave Serbian army that crossed Albania and arrived to that famed French ship during World War One.
| - The Order of Arts and Literature is the greatest recognition I have been awarded by France, and although many things connect me with France, I want to receive this award in February, in Belgrade, during our Fest. This is a film festival unique in the world for presenting the “best of the best” and has had a strong impact on me. I've received many awards across the world, on many world podiums, but I want to receive this prestigious French recognition here and to share the award with my people. In Belgrade we have the Yugoslav Cinematheque, an institution of world reputation, as well as important events like Bitef, Bemus, Fest … these are our bridges with the European community. By receiving the French Order at Belgrade's Fest, I wanted to show the degree to which Serbia belongs to Europe and the world. |
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Aside from your success at many world-known festivals and the numerous awards you have received so far, it is a great honour that a retrospective of your films will be held in New York, in January, at the very beginning of 2008. How many of your movies will New Yorkers see?
- Thirteen feature films will be shown out of the 14 I have made, and only two short-metre films out of 30. The feature film Twilight Time I made for MGM, starring Karl Malden, will not be shown because I don't think I finished it. Regarding a short-metre films, many of them were unfortunately destroyed in the bombing of Radio Television Serbia in 1999. I am very grateful for the new copies of my films made by the Yugoslav Cinematheque and supported by the Serbian government. They will remain as a lasting cultural value, because when I pass away, my movies will be in the Cinematheque, in a good condition.
Who selected the films and what was the main motive in their selection?
- The retrospective almost covers everything, so we can hardly speak about selection. If they could, they would have probably shown everything I have made.
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Actually, Laurence Kardish, the head of the Movie Department at MOMA, suggested this great tribute to my opus, arguing that I am not only a filmmaker with an impressive opus in the Balkan region, but also a rising author who will have something to say in the future. I hope Mr. Kardish is right.
What does this retrospective mean to you?
- The chance that New York's film and cultured public will be introduced to a Serbian filmmaker, and through his films to comprehend the Serbian reality in the last 30 years. I believe that my films are realistic and that in a certain way they mirror our troubles and dilemmas over the last 30 years.
To what degree can films influence change in society? |
- Films don't change the world, but if they are sincere they can certainly initiate some questions or help viewers see some problems and aspects of life in a new way.
- The task of every artist is to be critical towards his country, or generally towards something that is his own, or towards the environment in which he lives. It is easy to be critical towards neighbors if you don't live with them in love and understanding, but certainly we must also ask why we don't live with them in harmony. When we find the answer to this question, we shall also find the answer to many questions that torment us and we shall become better men.
How do you work with actors, how do you select them?
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- Actors convey emotions to viewers and they are most important to me. I choose them above all by their talent, sincerity and energy.
- I have worked with nearly all the best film actors in Serbia, from all generations, but I regret that I didn't have the opportunity to work with some of them, like Zoran Radmilović or Cico Perović for instance. I hope I'll work long and make good films and establish fruitful relationships. |
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After the projection of your film Optimists at the festival of Mediterranean Film in Rome, there followed a long applause. The audience was eager to meet you. You have always attracted great interest not only from your critics but from the audience as well.
- Talking with the public is very interesting and lasts long. It is especially pleasant to realise that the public, and not only journalists at press conferences, want to meet me. I am especially pleased that, considering I've received many awards from the world's most competent juries, my films awake in viewers a desire to talk to me. I hope that in this way I also improve the understanding of my people and my country to which the majority of my films is dedicated.
As you spend part of the year in Paris and part in Belgrade, do you come from Paris only for business and obligations or because you long to come home and feel homesick?
- Surely I am homesick – my roots are in Belgrade and Serbia.
Where do you draw inspiration for you films – when you're somewhere in the world or when you are in Serbia?
- In Serbia, definitely. But I find a necessary peace in Paris where I have more time to work and less daily problems on my mind. Christine, my wife, is already well adapted to the Belgrade milieu; she speaks our language and feels homesick when in Paris as much as I do. That's why we decided to live over there and here, which is not easy at all, but is wonderful. | 
