The Free Zone began, at the opening of Nick Cave and Let’s Defender the Rivers of the Old Mountain

The 16th Free Zone Film Festival kicked off tonight in Belgrade, Novi Sad and Nis with the world premiere of Nick Cave: Idiot Prayer.

The festival was officially opened by Rajko Petrović, the festival director, as well as selectors Branka Popović and Ivan Bakrač, the organizers announced.

Special guests at the inauguration was the environmental movement Defend the Rivers of Stara Planina, which was greeted with thunderous applause from the audience in the great hall of Kombank Hall.

Rajko Petrović announced the opening film, a solo concert by Nick Cave, which was shot after the first wave of Covid 19 and which, according to the festival director, fits perfectly into the feelings and atmosphere currently reigning in the whole society and announced a musical performance by one of the best musicians and artists. in the history of popular music.

This year’s festival has prepared “the richest and most ambitious program yet,” containing around 70 films to be screened in theaters and online through the KinoKauch.com film platform, Petrovic said.

Branka Pavlović, the selector of the International Program, explained that this year’s films are about the power of the written word, the catharsis of communication, as well as why it is important to live in harmony with nature and be in solidarity with your environment. “The common heroes of this year’s Zone movies are visionaries and wizards, shamans and water fairies, guardians and keepers of memory. Audiences will rejoice and enjoy the comforting movies,” he said.

Ivan Bakrač, selector of the Regional Program – Balkan Horizons, said that our Balkans are constantly turbulent, and at a time when the whole world is struggling with covid, and we on the other hand have other problems, it is fascinating that the authors from the Balkans have finished their films. we will be looking at the festival this year. Bakrac encouraged audiences to “re-examine their priorities and think about what home really means to them” through these films.

Thanks to the festival partners, the director of Free Zone announced this year’s newspaper, which is the new industry program Digital Propeller, to be organized in cooperation with the Media Desk of Serbia with the support of the Film Center of Serbia.

The audience’s special attention was provoked by the new Green Zone programming unit, which deals with ecology and attitude towards the environment, according to the organizers.

In this context, the festival officially inaugurated a movement that fights for the preservation of our environment Let’s defend the rivers of the Stara Planina. On behalf of this movement, the audience was led by Aleksandar Jovanović Ćuta, who expressed great gratitude and honor for having the opportunity to open the festival.

Aleksandar Jovanović said the movement originated four years ago when the rivers in which the people of Stara Planina walked and bathed in those rivers as children were attacked. This ecological fight cut through all obstacles, from legality to apprehension and physical confrontations.

At first, the movement had five members and today it has 120,000.

After four years, the rivers of Stara Planina are formally free based on the decision of the local self-government of the city of Pirot.

In the end, Jovanovic said: “If you want to live in a country with clean rivers, clean forests and clean air, you will have to fight for it and prepare for the Ecological March on the Drina.” With those words, the Free Zone is officially open.

The festival lasts until November 10.