First Bled Film Festival Begins

18. 06. 2014

First Bled Film Festival Begins


The first edition of the Bled Film Festival will get underway at the world-famous lakeside resort on Tuesday.


The BFF, whose key figures are internationally acclaimed Croatian-born actor Rade Šerbedžija and Bosnian actor and director Branko Đurić, focuses on independent feature films and ecology-themed documentaries.

 

Running until 21 June, the festival will witness Slovenian premieres of eight feature films and eight documentaries dealing with water issues in the competitions programme, which will be screened at Bled Castle and the Bled Festival Hall.

 

The feature film section includes gems already celebrated at prestigious festivals, such as "28" by Sri Lankan director Prasanna Jayakody, which won the best Asian feature film award in Rotterdam, and the Iranian film "Mahi Va Gorbeh" (Fish & Cat) by Shahram Mokri, the winner of the Horizons Award in Venice.

"Ankhon Dekhi" (Before My Eyes) by Indian director Rajat Kapoor, will officially open the festival in evening but the first documentaries will already be screened in the afternoon.

 

 

"Wishing Bell" awards will be handed out, including in the documentary section, all of whose films are water-themed as part of the festival's effort to raise awarenesses about environmental issues.

 

Additional events, notably a debate on Friday featuring climatologist Lučka Kajfež Bogataj and European Environment Commissioner Janez Potočnik, will be organised to highlight the importance of effective water management.

 

"We will try to show appealing and good films, bring interesting people from the world of film to Bled, but our wish is also to address issues concerning the environment and the protection of water on this planet. This is also why we are at Lake Bled, which is not only beautiful but synonymous too with clean water and nature," the head of the BFF board Šerbedžija has announced.

 

The accompanying programme will meanwhile also include three films by Serbian director Srdjan Dragojević, mostly known for "Pretty Village, Pretty Flame", and the free screening of four films in an outdoor theatre beside the lake.

 

Source: The Slovenia Times

 

First Bled Film Festival Begins