The 60th Anniversary of the Theater on Terazije

Belgrade, Dec. 21 2009, (Serbia Today) - The Theater on Terazije Square in Belgrade will celebrate on December 23rd the 60th Anniversary of its existence.
The Theater on Terazije Square is today the only music hall in Serbia. Founded in 1949, it went through several conceptual and name changes. Starting as a “Theater of Humor”, it changed its name in 1954 to a “Belgrade Comedy Theater”. Few years later it merges with the Belgrade Drama Theater and works under the name Modern Theater. In 1975 it again becomes independent theater group and adopts its present name “The Theater on Terazije Square”.
In 1991 the building on Terazije Square, where Theater had its space, went through long construction renovation. The Company returned to its home in 2005
Some of the biggest names of Serbian theater worked on the scene of Theater on Terazije Square: Branka Mitić, Željka Rajner, Dragutin Dobričanin, Miodrag Petrović Čkalja, Mića Tatić, Vesna Predojević, Tanja Bošković, Dragica Maksimović, Rade Marjanović.

The first twenty years of the Theater’s existence, on the repertoires were comedies and operettas. In sixties, the first musicals were presented to the public: “The Oklahoma”(1966) , “West Side Story”(1968), Kiss me Kate”(1969) etc. Some of the hit musicals on the repertoire today are: “Chicago”, “Grease” , “Cabaret”, “Somebody likes it hot”.
The Theater is lately expending its offer by introducing “The Small Cabaret Scene – Milenko Zablacanski”, and the Ballet Theater. Through their “Open Audition Program” they give chance to young theater artists, writers, dancers and musicians to become a part of this respectable theater institution.

Mirjana Karanovic received The Konstantin Obradovic Award

Belgrade, Dec. 15 2009, (Serbia Today) – The renowned Serbian film and theatre actress Mirjana Karanovic has been elected as the 2009 recipient of the “Konstantin Obradovic Award” given each year to those who gave significant contribution to the protection and advancement of the human rights.
According to the Award selection Committee, Mirjana Karanovic has earned this distinguished Award as the great artist who didn’t hesitate to use her public image and raise voice for the protection of human rights and for the betterment of the society.
“I often ask myself who I am and what is the purpose of my existence. All of the people who work on the advancement of the human kind have one thing in common – they believe in humanity and human goodness” , Mrs. Karanovic told journalists when accepting award.

Violin Maestro Jovan Kolundzija in Belgrade

By Valentina Radulovic
Belgrade, Dec.10th (Serbia Today) – Maestro Jovan Kolundzija, the same Serbian violinist that amazed Belgrade audiences with his concert in the 2007-2008 winter season with ‘Do you love Beethoven’, will perform ‘Bravissimo Maestro Mozart’, devoted to Mozart’s extraordinary opus.
In his last concert Maestro Kolundzija performed integral versions of all Beethoven’s sonatas for violin and piano. This exceptionally ambitious choice of music is rarely seen on the great concert podiums of the world. It requires a violinist to have great experience and to put hours and hours of hard work, because the performance of such a technically program is extremely demanding for a musician.
On December 10th, 13th, 15th and 17th, at Kolarac Concert Hall, Kolundzija will perform four concerts, together with his sister Nada Kolundzija and Eugene Choi from South Korea accompanying. Natalija Lavrik Mladenovic from Serbia will also perform. For the first time in Serbia, Marianna Hametska from Canada will be performing related pieces on the piano. They will be playing 15 of Mozart’s sonatas. Mozart’s composed and performed over two centuries ago, but this selection of his work is unequalled in its inspiration and the challenge it provides to the performers.
Kolundzija is the leading Serbian violinist graduate from the Belgrade Academy of Music under Professor Peter Toskov. He continued his post-graduate studies with Professor Henryk Szeryng. During his early career he became professor Szeryng’s favorite disciple and one of the most praised young violinists in the world. Szeryng commented in the past that “Kolundzia has the inborn qualities which cannot be learnt or taught. He has the quality of the sound, the warmth, the human approach to music, the feeling for style. He is a happy combination of heart and spirit, and a unique jewel among violinists.”
Kolundzija also participated in special concerts organized by UNESCO in Belgrade and Paris, and has made recordings for numerous radio and TV programs (he appeared twice in France’s world famous Jacques Chancel’s show on French television. The Maestro is a member of FIAN-UNESCO and he has numerous recordings to his credit, including the recently realized CD of Complete Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin by J.S. Bach.

Roma Band ‘Amaro Del’s New Album Out

Belgrade, Dec.8th 2009 (Serbia Today) - The popular Roma band “Amaro Del” famous for unique manner of performing of traditional Roma music will release a new album titled “Lilijako” early next year.
“The album is finished and since we have signed a contract with a Romanian music company, it will first be released there and then in Serbia at the beginning of next year. We are much more popular in Romania than in Serbia, we are often guests there and we frequently appearances in their media. I hope that we will have more opportunities to perform in Europe after the visa liberalization. We have great expectations for next year. We will perform at several festivals in France and we have already sent applications for the festivals in the Czech Republic, and Hungary,” says Marko Milovanovic, a guitarist of the band Amaro Del.
“Every other Saturday we play on the boat “Leonardo”. As far as bigger concerts are concerned, we mostly perform at the festivals. We played at EXIT 2006. We regularly play at the Festival of Street Musicians, the Days of Wine in Novi Sad, and the Palic Film Festival. Our band has been playing for 21 years and we are the most enduring Roma band in Serbia,” says Milovanovic.
Amaro Del is one of the more established Roma bands in Serbia, and they have carved out the reputation during the most difficult of times.
“Even during the difficult 1990s we remained attached to traditional Roma music and I want to point out that we play Roma music from about ten countries. Some of the songs are composed by us, but they will be included in one of our following projects. It is always awkward to talk about yourself and according to the people who come to our gigs, our concerts are unique experiences, something quite different from anything else, you know that it is Amaro Del and that is very important to us,” says Milovanovic. He has also expressed hope that during the Decade of Roma people from 2005 to 2015, Serbia will pay more attention to the promotion of Roma population and culture.
Just as in numerous other things, we are late in comparison to the rest of the world. In other European countries, there is much more promotion of equality of rights of Roma people. There are special TV shows and newspapers dealing with problems of Roma population, which unfortunately is not the case in Serbia,” Milovanovic concludes. .

The Legacy of Literary Giant Milorad Pavic

Belgrade, Dec. 7, 2009 (Source: Blic) - Milorad Pavic, the notable academician and writer, was buried yesterday in the Alley of the Greats, ‘Aleja Velikana’, in presence of his family members, respectable cultural and public workers and admirers of his work.

As a spokesman of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SANU), Nikola Tasic talked about Pavic’s work, his unusual spirit and a personality which had a unique charm, his domestic and foreign awards, etc.

“An interesting detail from his biography is that he is an exception in our Academy. According to the statute of SANU, a regular member can only be someone who had previously been a corresponding member. However, the committee composed of distinguished writers presented a paper emphasizing his qualities and significance, implying that he can be a regular member despite the fact that he had never been a correspondent,” said Tasic, adding among other things, that his work will be a subject of great attention.

In the name of people from Krunska, Dragomir Acovic, said farewell to “the first writer of the 21st century” as he was often called and read Svetlana Velmar Jankovic’s words. Addressing Pavic in a warm and personal way, she recollected the 1950s, when they often met in Makedonska Street in front of the tavern “Pod lipom” across the street from Radio Belgrade, where Pavic used to host a radio show “1000 years of lyrics”.

Funeral service was held by episcopes Lavrentije and Atanasije, while among those who attended his funeral were Djilas, the Prince Aleksandar Karadjordjevic with his wife Katarina, Vuk Draskovic, Ljubomir Simovic, Dusko Kovacevic, Miroslav Josic Visnjic, Neda Arneric, Dragana Jugovic del Monako, Sava Stojkov, Milos Sobajic, Caci Mihajlovic, Cile Marinkovic, Jovan Delic, Pedja Markovic, Predrag Palavestra and others.

On the way from the chapel to the Alley of the Great People, where he was buried next to Olja Ivanjicki, admirers of his prose mentioned the characters from his novels, his thoughts: “Nobody is smart and beautiful during all seven days of the week,” “Whatever you want and you pray for it and believe that you will have it- you will have it, because the space is a law of mirrors.”

Art of Serbia’s Children Reaches the World with UNICEF

By Jelena Jovanovic

Belgrade, Dec.5th, 2009 (Serbia Today) - United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) for Serbia, with the support of Instituto Cervantes in Belgrade, organized the exhibition `Greeting Cards Full of Life`. The exhibition, which runs from December 3rd to December 6th, displays that the artwork and literary work submitted by students from Serbian primary schools. It is all part of the competitition to make the best New Year's greeting cards. The competition topics were ’My UNICEF Greeting card` and `My New Year’s wish’.
Some of the best works that can be seen in the Cervantes gallery belong to Lazar Kostic, a seventh grade student from Milutovac, Jelena Taskovic, a sixth grade pupil from Belgrade, and Djordje Krunic, a seventh grade pupil from Lucani.
Children awarded for the best literary work were; Jovana Zivkovic from Negotin, Sandra Petrovic from Belgrade and Bogdan Dzekic from Uzice. Their ideas for UNICEF greeting cards will become part of the big family of greeting cards in the blue boxes that can be bought at the end of every year in countires around the world. The winning students also receive gifts from the companies which supported the campaign.
President of the jury judging the students work was Zefirino Grassi, Chief Editor of Belgrade magazine `Politikin Zabavnik`, a magazine for those with a ’young spirit’. It readers include people from every age. Members of the jury were illustrator Dobrosav Bob Zivkovic, photographer Nebojsa Babic, graphic designer Konstantin Petrovic, writers Jasminka Petrovic and Ljubivoje Rsumovic and columnist Nadezda Milenkovic. Representatives of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Serbia and UNICEF also participated in the jury.
The UNICEF exhibition at Cervantes Gallery marks the 60th anniversary of the UNICEF greeting card campaign. With funds raised from the sale of over 60 years, UNICEF has provided aid,medical and educational services and other assistance to children from all over the globe.
UNICEF greeting cards have become a symbol of hope for a better and happier future for all children. During the last 6 decades, UNICEF greeting cards were made by anonymous artists and authors, as well as famous ones. UNICEF’s first greeting card was a painting by seven-year-old Jitka Samkova, whose village in Czechoslovakia received UNICEF emergency assistance in the form of food and medicine in 1947. She created greeting cards to thank UNICEF and that is where the whole story began.
Many accomplished artists were invited to create artwork specifically for reproduction by UNICEF as greeting cards. Raoul Dufy’s watercolor painting of the United Nations building in New York City was the first, followed by the works of Henri Matisse, Marc Chagall, Salvador Dali. Some celebrities have also created greeting cards and contributed to the UNICEF mission, such as Julio Iglesias, Audrey Hepburn, Paloma Picasso, Lucciano Pavaroti, and Paul McCartney.

Global Recession and the Arts Collide

By Li Novak
Belgrade, Dec.5th, 2009 (Serbia Today) - One of the strongest influences on current cultural events in 2009 was the influence of the global recession as a theme, and also as a force which drained money away from cultural activities and the arts in general.
Difficult times have always been the source of inspiration for the themes selected by artists, and masterpieces have often been created during wars and amidst poverty. But, in the modern world, the impact of scarcity seems to be having a different effect. Art, in some measure, depends on funding from somewhere, especially the visual arts. Also, the state funds for culture are the first to disappear in a time of crises.
The latest Bitef Festival, which normally presents progressive new theatrical tends, was held in September. Its theme was, ‘The Crisis of Capital’, and ‘The Art of Crisis’. It is only natural that Bitef would have such a current topic as the subject of its festival, as the theater is one form of artistic expression which reacts most quickly to social changes.
All plays offered a different interpretation of the economic situation. Many artists asked themselves the same question: will the crisis of capital also be a crisis of art?
Bitef selectors attempted to highlight productions that dealt with the subject directly or reflected it in the subject matter. Bitef was also affected by these complicated financial times and produced a much smaller festival.
The global recession also had influence on the funding of entertainment events. One example of this impact is that the city of Belgrade almost always organizes a New Year’s celebration. It is usually comprised of concerts with various performers, and concessions for food and drink. This year the celebration will be much more modest with a reduced number of performers.
Serbian Minister of Culture, Nebojsa Bradic, announced that “the effects of the global recession are present in culture. The lack of money is just the beginning. But, people in the arts are already used to disadvantageous circumstances and there are many strategies for survival. We are satisfied with passing the year’s budget, but we should find different sources of financing from international organizations to make up for missing funds. Even in conditions of economic crises, the best institutions and projects must be supported.”
The effects of the global recession can be seen in literature as well. The editor of publishing house Geopoetika, Jasna Novakov Sibinovic, told Serbia Today about the condition of her business, “the global recession is affecting book sales, but not the amount of readers. Sales are down in all sectors and naturally in ours, as well. In our type of business, it was obvious at the Belgrade Book Fair.”
Srdjan Stojanovic, director of Multimedia Concerts, is also feeling the effects of the recession in his sector - the music business. Stojanovic said, that “the entertainment industry is very sensitive to economic trends. When the consumer is under pressure, only the primary expenses are covered. Every serious producer had to revise the calculations and lower the expectations by at least 30% to 40% this year.”
According to some artists, the effects of the global recession could be positive. One example of this is that many art galleries are following buyers move away from the more expenses artists to lesser known more affordable artists that the collector personally enjoys. This will give formerly unknown artists with promise a chance to shine.

Kusturica Inspires Trues Story and Film Fantasy

Belgrade, Dec.4, 2009 (Serbia Today) - Shooting of the film “Play me, Kusturica“ directed by a young director Uros Tomic will start at the end of this year in Mecavnik and Belgrade. Mirjana Karanovic, Slavko Stimac and Emir Kusturica will have the main roles.
Shooting will take place in the winter and spring of 2010, of course depending on Emir Kusturica’s obligations- says the director Uros Tomic and discovers an interesting and unusual plot of the film.
“The film is about a mother, played by Mirjana Karanovic, whose son is a young, but unsuccessful director. She is obsessed with the horoscope and according to her natal chart, Emir Kusturica and her son are connected by destiny and if Emir sees her son’s film, he will become famous,” explains Tomic.
The mother sends a CD with her son’s film to her old friend, played by Slavko Stimac, who lives in Mecavnik. However, the mother does not know that the character played by Stimac is a completely insignificant in the world of the famous director in the imaginary town of Kustendorf, which is located in the isolated Mecavnik mountains
Tomic explains that, “He is in fact in love with the mother and that is the reason why he cannot disclose his actual status, but embarks on an adventure trying to find a way to give Kusturica the CD with the young director’s film.
“It is an adventure, a comedy, a fairy tale and a love story. Some of the models that I used for this films are ‘The King of Comedy’ starring Robert De Niro, ‘Broken Flowers’ by Jim Jarmusch, ‘Being John Malkovich’, ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ by Tim Burton and ‘The Wizard of Oz’,” says Tomic, adding that the film is based on a true story.
The film is supported by the Secretariat for Culture of Belgrade and will be produced by Kiselo Dete, and co-produced by Rasta Films from Belgrade with partners from Hungary and Germany.

Serbian Heritage at Ethnographic Museum

Belgrade, Dec.2, 2009 (Serbia Today) - The name ‘zubun’ is widely used for a garment that was part of the Serbian ethnic dress throughout the areas of the Balkans populated by Southern Slavs in the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century. It refers to an upper-body garment of the long vest type that was most commonly sleeveless, open at the front, and of various lengths. It was made from homemade woolen cloth, usually of white color. Even though it is also part of the men’s assortment of clothes, the zubun is predominantly a garment worn by women. In the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century, it was made both by women at home and by village and town artisans. The zubun is also one of the oldest garments in the parts of the Balkans populated by Southern Slavs and one of the fundamental, most important and basic garments of the Serbian ethnic dress, especially regarding the structure of the women’s clothing pattern. It was worn in both summer and winter and was indisputably practical, but one of its other features attracted the attention of researchers at the end of the nineteenth and in the twentieth century: by the visual and aesthetic impression it makes it is one of the most exemplary garments of the Serbian ethnic dress.
In museum collections, the zubun features as the most represented item. According to the data in the Ethnographic Museum’s central database, this institution’s collection contains 622 of them. In the course of the preparations for the exhibition and the making of the catalog, 574 items in the collections of ethnic dress from Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia of the Ethnographic Museum in Belgrade were taken into consideration.
The goal of the exhibition is to display the Collection, which is truly special both by the number of items preserved and its formal, functional and stylistic features. It is also the best-preserved such collection from the nineteenth century containing items from the areas of the Balkans populated by Southern Slavs. This first display of such great proportions will provide visitors with an opportunity to learn new facts about both the cultural history of the Serbian people and the style of dress prevalent in the greater Balkan area. Another goal is to highlight the dynamic relations between the past and the present and provide a new view of a recognizable part of the Serbian cultural identity. With this exhibition, the Ethnographic Museum in Belgrade also wishes to promote another approach to work, both within the institution itself and with the public. The purpose of the transformation of the display area and the multimedia presentations of exhibitions is to arouse interest and attract as wide a circle of visitors as possible and make the Museum’s rich and inexhaustible fund accessible by displaying a selected number of original items.

Serbian Directors Create a Sensation

Belgrade, Dec.2, 2009 (Serbia Today) - The films of Serbian directors keep winning awards at international film festivals. Thus the debut of young director Darko Lungulov, creator of ‘Here and There’, recently won seven awards at prestigious international festivals.
It won three awards at a prestigious International Film and TV festival Cinéma Tous Ecrans in Geneva 0 – the Golden Reflexion for Best Direction, FIPRESCI award of international film critics and the Titra award.
At US festivals, the film won four awards - Spirit of Independence, for best foreign film direction and for best actor in a foreign film, awarded to David Thornton, who plays the main role.
It was also proclaimed best foreign film in the Orlando film festival. In June, at the international film festival in Hoboken, USA, David Thornton won the award for best actor.
At the prestigious Tribeca International Film Festival in New York, the film was proclaimed best New York narrative. It also won a special jury award at the Skip City Festival in Japan and was shortlisted by critics as the ‘Variety’ film magazine at the festival in Karlovy Vary.
At the recently held film festival in Thessaloniki, it won the second ‘audience award’, while the first award went to another Serbian film, The Honeymoon, by Goran Paskaljević. ‘Here and There’ is to participate in several other international festivals and has been included in cinema distribution in Germany, Switzerland, Greece and Hungary. Under way are negotiations with distributors in the USA, where the film is to be shown next year.
The story is about an American who meets a Serbian immigrant in New York and they agree that the latter should marry the former’s girlfriend in Serbia to obtain a green card. IT occurred to Lungulov during his film studies at a college in New York. In this tale of a quest for hope, the main roles are played by Serbian actors Branislav Trifunovic, Mirjana Karanovic, Jelena Mrdja, American actor David Thornton and Cindy Lauper, a music star of the 1980s.
Darko Lungulov was born in Belgrade and went to New York in 1991. He studied cinema at the City College of New York. In the period from 1997 to 2003, when he returned to Belgrade, he made a documentary film ‘Escape’, which was awarded by the audience at the Hamptons Festival in 2004 and was shown at numerous world festivals.

Celebrated Serbian Writer Pavic Dies at 80

By: Milen Vesovic
Belgrade, Dec.1, 2009 (Serbia Today) - Milorad Pavic, storyteller, poet and playwright, member of the Serbian Academy of Arts and Sciences, died last night at the age of 80.
Pavic was a historian of Serbian literature from the 17th to the 19th century, an expert on the Baroque period, a translator, an authority on Pushkin and Byron, and a university professor. His works have over 80 different translations in different languages around the world. By experts from Europe, USA and Brazil, Milorad Pavic was nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Pavic came to domestic and worldwide fame with world wide acclaim for his novel Dictionary of Khazars published in 1984. The post modernist novel was proclaimed as essential reading for the new century.
At the beginning of his literary and professorial career, Pavic published a book of poems, Palimpsest in 1967, and History of Serbian literature of the Baroque Age in 1970. The second book of poems Moon Stone was published in 1971, and the first collection of stories Iron Curtain in 1973 immediately set forth his surreal and esoteric style. Horses of Saint Mark (1976), Russian Hound (1979), New Belgrade Stories (1981), The Souls of Bathing Last (1982) strengthened his unique and innovative image in the literary world.
In the second novel, Landscape Painted Tea (1988), the author offers exciting work for lovers of cross words. In 1991, he published a third novel, Inner Side of the Wind which was followed by Last Love in Constantinople, also called the manual for divination, in 1994.
Pavic's most widely acclaimed work, which made him an international figure in the literary world was Dictionary of the Khazars, published in 1984. There is no easily discerned plot in the conventional sense, it is based on a historical event generally dated to the last decades of the 8th century or the early 9th century when the Khazar royalty and nobility converted to Judaism, and part of the general population followed. However, from this starting point, Pavic often veers into his own style of playful, somewhat Borgesian fantasy. Most of the characters and events described in the novel are entirely fictional, as is the culture ascribed to the Khazars in the book, which bears little resemblance to any literary or archaeological evidence. The novel might be a sort of metafictional false document, as the people and events in the novel are presented as factual.
Many critics noted that the writer Pavic's intrepid imagination made him a leading European postmodernism, but his unique style and structure made him hard to categorize and it will make him even harder to replace.

New York’s Best Art in Belgrade

Belgrade, Nov.30, 2009 (Serbia Today) - The Lincoln Center’s collection of Contemporary American Graphic Artists is open from now until December 25th at the National Bank of Serbia, in Belgrade.
“This kind of exhibition hasn’t been available to the Belgrade audience, so far,” said Ziva Skodlar Vujic, the curator of the exhibition.
The Lincoln Center exhibition, which contains the work of 38 artists, is one of the biggest exhibitions of modern art in Belgrade this year. The exhibition is very exclusive considering that these pieces are preserved in one of the most exclusive art centers of the world. Some of the more prominent artists in this exibition, are Donald Sultan, a well-known American artist known for his large scale still life paintings. The audience can also enjoy the work of Mark di Suvero, with his abstract expressionism, and Robert Mangold, famous for his artistic minimalism. They are the artists who represent the best of visual art in the contemporary art world.
The collection that can be seen in Belgrade is available to the Serbian audience thanks to the cooperation of National Bank of Serbia, UKT Marketing consulting, and the gallery Visconti Fine Art from Ljubljana. The owner of Visconti Fine Art is the curator, Ziva Skodlar Vujic.
The Lincoln Center celebrates its 50th birthday this year. The Lincoln Center’s is home of the Metropolitan Opera, the New York opera, the ballet, and the New York philharmonic. In the world of modern art, Lincoln Center is a beacon which connects the worlds of painting, music and performance, and for this reason, Belgrade is very excited to be sharing cultural events with such a world center for the arts.
The aim of this exhibition is to inspire the younger generation and keep them creating. There are limited series reproductions of these works of art that are on sale at the exhibition.

Legendary Yugo Rock Film at Dom Omladine

Belgrade, Nov.30, 2009 (Serbia Today) - Koja, leader, bassist and lead vocalist of the legendary band Disciplin A Kitschme, (Disciplina Kitschme literally translates as Spinal Discipline).
Disciplina Kitschme, formed by Koja ( Dusan Kojic Koja) and Urban Gerila drummer Nenad Krsavac Kele in 1981, was one of the two spin-offs of the seminal Yugoslav New Wave and later post-punk band Sarlo Akrobata, the other being Ekatarina Velika.
Five years ago, Koja organized a legendary reunion of domestic musicians at the unforgettable meetings of musicians in the Belgrade club Akademija.Fank i lastis, is a film in which the famous rocker searched out the domestic talent in Yugoslavia over the last two decades, and created a retrospective of the Serbian rock world over the years. The film will be shown on December 2 at the Belgrade Dom Omladine at 9 PM within the Author’s Film Festival.
Koja is the producer, screenplay writer, editor, animator and director of this music film. In an interview for Serbian daily Blic he talks about his struggle for a high-quality cultural expression.
“The film ‘Funk and lastis’ from 2004 represents a search for high-quality events. The 1990s left catastrophic consequences on every level including culture, in alliance with an amazing number of media. Five years later the situation was slightly better, but it still missed some basic, almost forgotten artistic moments, let’s say. I used to make sessions at Akademija very often and some side projects outside my band during the 1980s and later with English band DAK,” says Koja.
When asked about the material selected Koja describes a very painstaking procedure.
“The film lasts 88 minutes, I was editing for several months and it wasn’t always easy to make a decision what to include in the film, since there are a lot of good improvisations and interesting details. What is in the film represents an essence of the whole concept. Future DVD edition will surely have some other bonus things.”
Koja promises a special evening when the film airs at the Authors Film Festival, and he promises that those experiencing nostalgia for the old days will have the opportunity to smoke during the screening and enjoy things the way they were.

Days of Serbian Culture in Timisoara

Belgrade/Timisoara, Nov 28, 2009 (Serbia Today) – Serbian Minister of Culture Nebojsa Bradic inaugurated today an exhibition of the works of Milos Sobajic at the Helios Gallery in Timisoara, thus opening the Days of Serbian Culture.
Bradic said that over a period of seven days a number of cultural events will be held in Timisoara, by Romanian and Serbian presidents Traian Basescu and Boris Tadic, according to Serbian news agency Tanjug. The Days of Serbian Culture have been organized by the Union of Serbs in Romania and the Serbian consulate.
Bradic said that a wreath will also be laid at the Dositej Obradovic museum and a solemn academy will be held to honor him at the Serbian secondary school in Timisoara named after him.
The Minister said that a fair of Serbian literary magazines will also be arranged, adding that an anthology of Serbian literature will be presented in Romania and a literary gathering “Writers, Bread and Win” will also be held.
Various Serbian films and theatre plays will be presented to audiences in Timisoara, said Bradic.
He said that the Days of Serbian Culture are being sponsored by the Romanian government’s department for inter ethnic relations, the Serbian Ministry of Culture, the Romanian Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs and the Serbian Ministry for Diaspora.

Tesla Goes Back to Hollywood

Belgrade, Nov.27, 2009 (Serbia Today) - Hollywood is getting ready to create another character around the world renowned Serbian scientist, Nikola Tesla. According to an American magazine “Variety”, Brad Pitt’s production company has purchased copyright for shooting a film based on a video game “Darko Void” in which one of the main characters is Nikola Tesla, whose inventions help people to win a battle against aliens.
Although the video game 'Dark Void' will be presented on January 12, it has already attracted great media attention. Plan B production company, which is owned by Brad Pitt, hurried to buy copyright for a film adaptation of the game which is supposed to be one of the greatest hits in 2010. Other details related to the shooting are not known, but it is possible that Brad Pitt will have a role of the pilot William Augustus Grey, the main character in this action game.
The plot revolves around the pilot Grey who finds himself in the Bermuda Triangle and teleports into the parallel universe (Void) where he meets the Survivors, people who are trying to return to the Earth. William unites with the Survivors and fights against the Watchers, aliens who come from an unknown planet and defeat people. The Watchers are equipped with superior technology and weapons and their only goal is to conquer the Earth, while the Survivors are trying to defend themselves from much more powerful enemies and save the human race. Their greatest ally is the genius scientist Nikola Tesla who is trying to use the aliens’ technology and make a weapon and ships which will help the Survivors to beat the Watchers. At the same time the opposing sides are trying to find a way out of the parallel universe in which they are imprisoned.
It is interesting to point out that music for the game is composed by Bear McCreary, who is famous as a composer of music in the popular science-fiction series “Battlestar Galactica”. This is the first time that McCreary has composed music for a video game and music for the “Dark Void” video game is recorded with “Hollywood Studio Symphony”.

Harlem Gospel Choir in Belgrade and Nis

By: Li Novak
Belgrade, Nov.26, 2009 (Serbia Today) - World famous gospel choir will hold two concerts for the Serbian public in Belgrade on December 2nd in Sava Center and in Nis on December 3rd.
Harlem Gospel Choir was founded in 1986 by Allan Baily. Baily was inspired by a ceremony in the Cotton Club in Harlem, organized in honor of Martin Looter King Jr. Harlem Gospel Choir members have participated as part of their various humanitarian actions.
This is the first time that Serbian public has the opportunity to see Harlem Gospel Choir, also called ‘The Angels’ by their fans and supporters.
This choir fame was spread even further world thanks to the song “Angels of Harlem”, performed by the choir with mega rock group U2 in the bands movie “Rattle and Hum”. The choir cooperated with many celebrities from the world of music, including B. B. King, Diana Ross, Jimmy Cliff, Dixie Hummingbirds, Harry Belafonte, Jon Hendricks, and Lisa Marie Presley.
Their passionate music, full of familiar rhythm and melody contains popular gospel standards such as ‘O Happy Day’, ‘When the Saints Are Going Marching In’, ‘Joshua Fit the Battle of Jerico’, and some newer standards such as ‘I Believe I Can Fly’ or ‘Celebration’.
The world famous Harlem Gospel Choir is the most famous gospel choir in America today. It travels the globe, sharing the joy of music. It has the important role of helping better understanding of African-American culture.
Harlem Gospel Choir’s concert is organized by Belgrade promoting house Multimedia Concerts. This promoting house continues the tradition of Hungarian-Serbian firm Multimedia, which was active in the 1980’s in former Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia and organized concerts of big stars from that era, including Elton John, Tina Turner, Alice Cooper, Bob Dylan. Since 2005, Multimedia Concerts has also brought Serbia big names such as Deep Purple, Simply Red, and Toto Cutuno.

65 Years of Ensemble Lola

Belgrade, Nov.25, 2009 (Serbia Today) - This weekend in Sava Center, the Academic Cultural and Artistic Society ’LOLA’ marked its 65th anniversary with the program - `Lola Forever`. In a speech before the concert, Mihajlo Rabrenović, president of LOLA, said that the academy, with 1000 members, was the biggest non-professional arts academy in South Eastern Europe.
In the last 6 decades LOLA has been promoting Serbian tradition, as well as modern art programs, and concerts in the festivals around the world. In this, anniversary year, they have visited Austria, France, Tunis, Romania, Greece and BiH and successfully presented a wide variety of programs.
The Academic and Cultural Society LOLA has National Folk dance Ensemble, Chorus and Folk Orchestra, and amateur theatre section - `Teatar Levo`. The concert in the Sava Center presented a diverse program, which was comprised of a ’best of’ selection from productions spanning 6 decades.
The LOLA chorus performers from 1980s ensemble, conductor Miloje Nikolic, performed compositions by Josip Marinkovic, Dmitri Bornjanski, Stevan Stojanovic Mokranjac..
The chorus was followed by theater performances of a selection of scenes from popular plays of Branislav Nusic and Stevan Sremac, two of the more significant Serbian writers from 19th century.
The National Folk Dance Ensemble presented a program with dances from Sumadija and Southern Serbia and, for the first time, programs `Fresca Viva` and ` Natama` were performed. Special guests of this significant concert, were Folk Dance Ensemble from Salzburg, Austria and chorus ’Postojna’ from Slovenia.
The Ivo Lola Ribar Youth Cultural-Artistic Society, which was established in 1944, directly after the liberation of Belgrade. The Society was named after Ivo Lola Ribar, the popular youth and student leader from the WWII era, who was killed in 1943 at the age of 27. Since its foundation, LOLA has been situated at Resvska 11 in the center of Belgrade.
The LOLA choir repertoire includes all of the significant vocal-instrumental works of international music, spiritual and secular music. The national dance and song ensemble has in its repertoire over 40 choreographies from all parts of Serbia.The LOLA Folk Orchestra plays Serbian national music, but also music from other nations. The LOLA theatre stage ensemble was the first stage for some prominent Serbian actors, such as Zoran Radmilovic, Petar Kralj, Mirjana Karanovic, and Seka Sabljic.
Several thousands of young people have passed through the ensembles of LOLA. This Society held thousand of concerts in Serbia and all over the world. Some of the most significant awards for their work were the first prize for “LOLA” Folk Dance and Song Ensemble at the European Folklore Festival in Kiev, and the first prize at the meeting of all previous champions at the International Folk and Dance Festival in Dijon.
Mihajlo Rabrenovc, president of the Academic Cultural and Artistic Society LOLA, said that this society was an unavoidable part of the educational and cultural strategy of Serbia and the promoter of Serbian relations with the world, and that it contributes to the preservation of the Serbian identity in a time of globalization.