An exhibition featuring 250 photographs about the 25 years of the festival opens this Wednesday at Lauba in Zagreb • Exhibition depicting happiness and joy moves to Motovun this summer
25 Years in a Flash, which is how long it takes to take a photograph. Over the course of a quarter of a century of Motovun Film Festival’s existence, countless photographs have been taken that reflect amazing moments of joy, delight and excellent fun.
The selection of the most memorable photos will be presented in the exhibition Motovun: 25 Years in a Flash, opening this Wednesday, 28 June, at Lauba – House for People and Art in Zagreb, which will move to Motovun for the duration of the festival, 22 – 24 July.
From the years of the first festival editions in 1999 and 2000, there are only a few low-resolution photos because they were recorded with analogue cameras, but as digital technology advanced, the number of photographs proliferated exponentially. Hundreds of photographs each day, of people, screenings, events, gigs, parties, madness, and sunrises…
“How do you choose? How could we select a reasonable number of photographs, when there has simply been such an incredible amount of everything that we couldn’t possible choose fewer than 250 – 300 photos, and that would be just the barest minimum. This selection is something our veteran photographer Nina Đurđević and I have been struggling with for days. Our heads are bursting with amazing images”, reveals festival Director Igor Mirković.
The common thread running throughout the entire mosaic of photographs is happiness.
“In all the photos, the faces are smiling. Both the young people in the audience and the pampered actors, actresses, directors – everyone’s face lights up, bursting with joy. Motovun Film Festival has always been a good-mood factory and a crystal cube of cheer. This festival is made up of countless people who have, each in their own way, contributed to making our hill of films shine in the dark. It is not easy to be happy for twenty-five years, while sailing through the tempests and storms of daily life. We managed to pull it off. That’s why we have always said that our festival was located 277 meters above reality”, highlights Mirković.
This year, the festival climbs to even greater heights, brings good spirits to 1034 metres above sea level and away from it all. Named Cinehill, it will be held in two sections – 22 to 24 July in Motovun, and 26 to 29 July at the mountain top Petehovac near Delnice.
The exhibition at Lauba will remain open for just one day, with music duo La Papa, consisting of Stanko Kovačić (cello) and Nikola Dabac (ukulele), performing at the opening. Admission is free of charge.
