In front of the FEST audience, in the packed Great Hall of MTS Hall, the star of this years festival, German diva Barbara Sukowa, was awarded the honorary Belgrade Victor for Outstanding Contribution to Film Art. The statue of the Belgrade Victor was presented to the guest by the artistic director of FEST, Jugoslav Pantelić, who pointed out that it was a privilege to have Barbara Sukowa as a guest of the festival.
‘It is one thing to be recognized for a role, but it is a completely different thing to be awarded for your contribution to film. It is a broader and bigger thing’, said Barbara Sukowa, adding that film was an art that was not created by just one person. ‘I want to acknowledge the numerous directors and screenwriters, actors and cinematographers, costume designers and make-up artists, composers, all the wonderful people with whom I had the opportunity to collaborate, and they all stood behind my success. I was lucky to work with wonderful crews and I am grateful to film for giving me so much enjoyment and joy. It is a privilege to have a festival like this. Coming to FEST, I saw people at the airport and in restaurants staring at their phones. The pandemic has alienated us. We are used to sitting in our homes and watching films or TV series. That is why cinemas become almost sacred places where we have the privilege to see films together, to laugh together, to cry together, where we are connected and can talk about film’, she said. ‘My wish is for us to go to the cinemas, for young directors to get the opportunity to make films and for us not to remain locked in our rooms’, the actress concluded, saying that she could not wait to tell her son Viktor that she had got another Victor.
After the award presentation, the FEST audience had the opportunity to see the film DALÍLAND directed by Mary Harron starring Ben Kingsley and Barbara Sukowa.
