At the meeting, the prominent Serbian filmmaker Mirolijub Vuckovic elaborated on the process of making a joint film by Iran and Serbia, sponsored by Farabi Cinema Foundation. The panel was followed by a press conference on the process.
Noting the complexity of making a joint film, he said that the agreement between Iran and Serbia was made in the international film festival in Germany based on the standards of both countries.
Serbia is cooperating on making joint films with other countries, including Greece and France. Now, based on the ethical and environmental standards of Iran and Serbia the agreement was made with Farabi as a result of a shared understanding. Therefore, joint festivals and exchange of students and professors in filmmaking and cinema are expected, the filmmaker went on to say.
Vuckovic added that the archive of the joint films will be at Serbia’s conservation center for arts.
The Serbian filmmaker reiterated the center was willing to cooperate with Iran, and would remain committed to the principles of the agreement.
For 12 years, he has been studying the cinemas of different countries, and it was the cinema of Iran that caught his eyes. The cinema is one of the most important arts that has been focused by the center. Opening institutes for preserving arts and keeping the joint productions is another principle of the agreement, he explained.
The filmmaker underscored that Tehran, Shiraz and Tabriz were the cities that had been chosen for making the joint films.
The international department of Farabi Cinema Foundation made lots of efforts and coordinated many sessions of talks to reach the agreement, he said.
It was concluded that 6 projects, 3 related to each countries, be examined and one of them be chosen for production. The project will address the field of young and adolescent movies, and probably will be inclined to kids’ movies.
The Serbian filmmaker also highlighted that the most important issue for making a joint film is to make sure that no mistakes will be made on economic, ethical and cultural dimensions, as there would not be any second chance for trial and error.
There are, he said, three models of joint film production. Organic model is a model in which the producer is motivated to produce a film for a country other than his/her own. And there would be a common issue between the two sides that is recounted in the form of a story or narration and is realized in the film. The technical model is another model in which there would be no shared cultural point between two countries, but the location, means or investment are shared.
Vuckovic, also a film critique, referred to the Iranian film Qasr-e Shirin, as a good example of a movie which is produced based on technical model.
He then added that the third model is a specific model of joint production that is based on exchanged ideas in terms of technical issues for filmmaking.
The Serbian filmmaker argued that there are two truths when it comes to filmmaking. One is what one sees on the screen, he said, and the other is the reality that takes place on the ground.
The two are not necessarily the same, he noted, adding that the artistic elements of a film can also cover the events of everyday life.
He highlighted the importance of letting children and young adults implement their own ideas and forms instead of pre-planning their minds, Vuckovic said, “In the third approach, a competition between children and young adults of the two countries can be raised to make different films based on specific ideas.
In conclusion, he said one of the characteristics of the cinema of Serbia is that the tax paid for making a film will be reimbursed after three months so that the filmmakers can invest the money in their films.
This is an advantage in making a joint film, Vuckovic said.
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