About the program and the award
“Narrative structure is prison; it is tradition; it is a lie…”
Dusan Makavejev
“Our hand-held cameras were curious and critical. Instead of performing, our actors were asked just to be alive. Our stories on film became unpredictable, as in life.”
Dusan Makavejev
WILD FILM – Dusan Makavejev Award
About the Program:
This selection is inspired by the famous director Dusan Makavejev. He was from Belgrade, but international to the core. He made movies in Yugoslavia, Australia, France, Sweden, Canada, Germany… And that kind of universal film experience without any borders we want to have.
In this versatile program, we seek films and authors like Dusan was, who deal with topics from loneliness and alienation, through political repression to liberated sexuality. The program consists of filmmakers hailing from various parts of the world who challenge moral and narrative conventions through their unique blend of different film genres and forms. It can be an offbeat comedy with a more traditional story or blend of highly charged metaphorical drama and non-fiction material. These authors, akin to Makavejev, recognize the potency of cinema to simultaneously be playful, communicative, and even entertaining while delving into profound existential themes and human dramas.
“There was a wonderful director, Dusan Makavejev, who told me, hey, Francis, a good rule is that when you shoot all this stuff, look and decide what’s the best thing you have, the second-best thing and the third best thing. Take the best thing you have and make it the ending of a movie, and take the second-best thing and make it the beginning of the movie, and the third thing put in between those two.”
Francis Ford Coppola
Jury and Awards:
– The Wild Film program will present a carefully curated selection of 8 films in competition.
– Films made by directors of different generations, featuring both emerging talents with their debut works and seasoned veterans who continuously explore innovative cinematic languages and storytelling.
– The selection is competitive, and the Best Director Award for this program will be determined by an esteemed international jury. For the inaugural year, our aim is to have Jury members who have previously collaborated with Mr. Makavejev or individuals who deeply admired and promoted his exceptional body of work.
– The main accolade, the „Dusan Makavejev Award“ for the Best Film in the Wild Film category, carries a cash prize of 3,000 euros and will be presented to the director of the winning movie.
– Additionally, the jury will bestow a „Special Jury Award“ recognizing outstanding artistic achievement either in acting, editing, screenplay, cinematography, music, production design, costume design, or sound design within the selection of films. Winner of this prize will get a collection of Dusan Makavejev films by Criterion.
“Dušan Makavejev will remain a figure as emblematic of his period as Ken Kesey in literature or Velvet Underground in music. I like to think that Dziga Vertov and Salvador Dalí would have been his lifelong fans.”
Peter Cowie
