Oleg Novkovic, director of The Miner's Opera
A GIFT FOR POETRY

“I like this film very much. At the start I didn’t know what I was getting into. I was afraid of blowing it, so I have prepared myself well and thought everything up.

Then I went there, to the city of Bor. I met the main characters and the film began to develop in parallel with the play. Our lives, the film and the play began to intertwine. Friendship was born and we began to understand our common generational conscience. We were kids born in Socialism and the ideals of our parents were betrayed and subject to ridicule. We have recognized each other in self-irony and the distance towards the past, the present and they tell us what the future will be. So we joked about that, but also sang and cried.

I have made new friends and made a film about them. All my previously well-devised plans crumbled. We worked instinctively, step by step. Many emotions were involved. Ultimately a documentary was produced. The viewers shall judge about its quality. I think it to be very good. I like this film very much.

The programme of FEST for this year looks good and diverse. FEST begins to look like a genuine film festival. I hope that the films will be up to the task, but that’s the authors’ job and not the one of FEST.

I am of course happy that my script White, White World has made it with the ten chosen projects for the pitching organized within FEST. The idea for the script came to me during the shooting of The Miners’ Opera. The common inspiration and the poetic gift of Milena Markovic have created a strong film story that will ultimately, I hope, see the light of day.”