Thursday, February 14
Kombank Hall
This year, the holiday of love will be a special day for film fans ahead of the 47th FEST. On the occasion of the return of the legendary film festival to its cradle – the former Trade Union Hall – today’s Kombank Hall, Valentine's Day will be marked by the films shown at the first FEST back in 1971, which will be screened at this very place on February 14th, organized by the Belgrade Festivals Centre.
A feast for the eyes, ears, mind and soul are on the menu:
2001: A Space Odyssey – FEST has kept pace with the world from the very beginning and had offered its most popular film at the time, the work of Stanley Kubrick, which was shown in a refreshed, remastered release in honor of its 50TH anniversary premiere last year. This very version, which breathed new life into the 1968 ‘Odyssey’, will be shown at Kombank Hall ahead of FEST. The film deals with the themes of existentialism, human evolution, technology, artificial intelligence and alien life, and follows the journey of an astronaut to Jupiter with a computer HAL 9000, following the discovery of a mysterious black monolith affecting human evolution.
Easy Rider – Film aficionados will also be able to see a film at Kombank Hall on Valentine's Day which brought the big stars at the time Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper to the first FEST in 1971. ‘Easy Rider’, a film which is considered a landmark counterculture film, follows motorcycle enthusiasts and small-time dealers Billy and Wyatt (Hopper and Fonda) on their journey across America. This is the first feature film for which original music was not made, but the songs of the then popular rock bands such as The Band, The Byrds and Steppenwolf were used.
Woodstock – The Oscar-winning documentary by Michael Wadleigh about the legendary festival that took place in 1969, premiered just a year later, and is considered by many to be the greatest concert film of all time. This three-hour film follows the atmosphere, performances and performers such as The Who, Santana, Jimmy Hendrix and Joe Cocker at a festival that drew more than 400,000 people. What is interesting is that on this documentary, which will be rescreened in the Kombank Hall, the assistant director was the famous Martin Scorsese, before making a name for himself in the world of film.
Tickets can be purchased at the box office of the Kombank Hall for 180 RSD for each screening.
Following this overture on February 14th, film lovers will have a few days to prepare for the beginning of the 47th FEST, which runs from February 22nd to March 3rd this year.
