Tanja Bošković shared with us what connects her to the Sopot Festival and what memories she carries from it.
‘On this same day, many years ago, I was in Herceg Novi and they called me on the phone and said: "You have received the Freedom statuette, it would be nice if you came”, after which I got on the plane and came to Sopot. The same thing happened this year. I was in Herceg Novi, in the same garden, when they informed me that I was the recipient of a lifetime achievement award, and I packed, got on a plane, came to Sopot, and will return tomorrow.
I remember being on the jury here, and that the jury that year awarded the prize to Isidora Minić, the first that she had ever received. I also remember having dinner with Dragovan Jovanović at a restaurant here in Sopot after the opening of the Festival, and that after that conversation we shot the film “Sablazan”. All this happened around here, where I spent my childhood, my early youth, in Aranđelovac, therefore very close. Šumadija, Kosmaj, I feel and love all this deeply and seriously, and I am happy that a film festival like this is taking place right here, and not in Belgrade, although Sopot is not far from it. The people here have the same cultural needs as those of us who live in a big city. I think it would be nice to use every larger meadow and make it a space for cultural events. We need to support these people, with their diversity, and to think in architecture about what belongs and corresponds to this undulating and wonderful area with rich water. I especially like the carriage that passes here.
I also think about how many friends have passed away, some “flowers” are missing above my head. Dragan, Milena, Bora, Bata, Olivera, Bekim – they are pieces of my soul and pieces of my presence in cinema.
Every encounter here is fantastic and it's not just about the acting, it's also about these people. I like to hug people here, both known and unknown, that is very important to me. Here you can hug everyone with impunity, without it being taken as a bad thing. In the rest of the world, looks are interpreted as harassment, and this is still not the case with us, and that's why I'm happy – that I belong to this part of the world.’
