19th European Film Festival opens in lake resort

PALIĆ -- French actor, director and screenwriter Jean-Marc Barr opened the 19th edition of one of the region's prestigious festivals - European Film Festival Palić 2012.

The ceremony was held on the Summer Stage at Lake Palić, near the town of Subotica, over the weekend.

The festival started with the screening of the Hungarian film "Just the Wind".

During the week-long festival, around 80 films will be screened, about ten of which will have their first post-Cannes, Berlin or Rotterdam showings.

During the opening ceremony, the festival organizers presented the Alexander Lifka Award for outstanding contribution to the European cinema. This year's awards went to Jean-Marc Barr, and Serbian composer and musician Zoran Simjanović.

Receiving the award, Barr recalled that he had lived in the territory of the former Yugoslavia, adding that this country opened many doors for him for promoting and presenting Eastern Europe in many arts.

I think that this award is an occasion to celebrate the independent culture on the entire continent, Barr said, thanking the organizers for the award.

Scottish director of Norwegian origin Joern Utkilen won this year's Underground Spirit Award for astonishing achievement in the independent cinema.

The festival will last until July 20. The best out of the 14 films in the main competition program will be chosen by a jury comprising: Mira Furlan, Gabriele Kranzelbinder, Alexandra Dahlstrom, Ahmet Boyacioglu and Bojan Bosiljčić..

The jury will also award the Golden Tower for best film and the Palić Tower for best director, as well as a Special Jury Prize.

An international critics' jury, comprising Verena von Stackelberg, publisher and distributor from Berlin, Marko Kostić, film director and critic from Belgrade, and Dean Kotiga, film critic from Motovun, will give the Tolerance Award to the best film from the Parallels and Encounters program.