The official opening ceremony of the Küstendor 2016 Film Festival took place tonight at the packed Damned Yard theatre in Drvengrad.
Professor Emir Kusturica greeted the guests, as the Chef of the Festival. He promised a good “meal” that he himself had prepared. Professor spoke about the role of geese in Gypsy mythology. He said that, according to the legend, “the Gypsies flew over the ocean on geese, from over there. This mythology was then transformed into the metaphore which I used in many of my films”. Kusturica then gave the floor to Ivan Tasovac, the Minister of Culture and Information of the Republic of Serbia. Speaking about the Festival, Mr Tasovac said that it is “good to see this happening in the heart of Serbia, when in the sombre Belgrade salons, where the self-proclaimed and self-sufficient members of the elite are getting ready for a new round of utter despair.”
Declaring Küstendorf – “a festival for lifting the fog” – open, Tasovac asked the Festival organizers to let him bring geese with him back to Belgrade, saying: “They light the way, more than those who have managed to persuade us that the Serbian culture cannot do without them. Who knows where we will end up together.”
After the speeches, the cast of Time of the Gypsies performed two scenes from this punk opera. With two arias from the opera, geese, grand guignols, football juggling and confetti, the festival was open.
See photo gallery here.