On Friday, February 14, it was decided that this year the Fest will not take place in February, as before, but from September 12 to 23. At the same time, almost to the day, years ago, the Festival of the European feature-length documentary film "The Magnificent Seven" was held.
And, that's not good at all.
Small and large
Zoran Popović, who in 2005 with his wife Svetlana founded "Seven Magnificent", tells the "Vremena" portal that they are "taken aback" and that they do not understand how such a decision could have been reached.
"When you schedule a smaller event at the time of a bigger one, it won't bother the bigger one." But conversely, if you coincide a smaller event with a larger one, it is disastrous for the smaller one. And as we all know, the Fest is not a festival that lasts only on the days of its appointment, but also before and after that, it lasts the whole month. That's why moving the Fest from February to September means that all other cultural events in that month will be invisible," says Zoran Popović.
Let us remind you that in September the season of all cultural scenes begins: theater, music, art and film. In September, there are Bitef and Bemus, and the October Salon, and near them in October is the Book Fair.
The Magnificent Seven festival usually starts on September 12 or 13. Zoran Popović says that this year it was accidentally moved from September 18 to 25, "but the fact that the Fest will cover only the first half of our festival is not a mitigating circumstance."
Everyone is a loser.
"I'm afraid the 'Magnificent Seven' is losing its traditional term." It is impossible to take place in parallel with Festa. I don't understand who needed it. It's not only us who lose, but also the audience and the City of Belgrade. Those who like film, would like to attend the Fest and our festival. It is common knowledge that when making annual schedules of festivals, to take care of the distance between two manifestations because people cannot consume them when they are combined."
Zoran Popović denies that Fest informed him of the intention to change the date.
There is no solution.
"They act like we don't exist." "We found out about everything when everyone else did, that is, when everything had already been decided," he says.
He does not know the solution to this situation.
"Should we change the date?" Will the City Assembly approve it? It's natural to feel threatened. We are a city festival. Who should we expect help from, the City Secretariat for Culture? They deal with Festa, what should we expect? It's a classic story about the powerful and the powerless."
Let's remind: the president of the Fest Committee is Nataša Mihailović Vacić, city secretary for culture.
