When Aleksandra Božović took over as head of the Film Center four years ago, cultural workers did not welcome her with open arms. Today, however, they admit that her results have made them change their minds.
"The results so far absolutely recommend that the Film Center, together with Ms. Božović and the team at the Film Center, continue to do the work started with the first director of the Film Center and improved over the past four years," said director Marija Perović.
That is why they are arguing that the Government has not yet decided on Božović's new mandate.
They suspect that there may be political pressure because the Ministry of Culture, headed by Tamara Vujović, allegedly withdrew the proposal for Božović's re-election just before the government session.
According to unofficial information, this was done due to the calculations of the ruling parties at the state level. According to our information, the candidate for the position of the first person of the Film Center is a member of the New Serbian Democracy party – a director at the Public Service Broadcasting Company Radoslav Stanišić, who recently came into the public spotlight as a member of the jury for the controversial Thirteenth of July Award.
"Today's events confirm that culture in Montenegro is exclusively and only prey. How do we know that? If someone appoints someone, then withdraws the appointment overnight, as is the case with the current director of the Film Center, Aleksandra Božović, we cannot be immune, we have to call things by their right names, that is political pressure," director Mladen Ivanović is convinced.
And that kind of pressure must bypass such an important cultural institution, say film workers.
"It is precisely this type of political pressure, the escalation, that is something that is very contrary to what is the main narrative of this Government, which is the closing of the chapter and entry into the European Union. That place must not be a place of political escalation," says Ivanovic.
"Leave us alone to do our job to the best of our ability, and five feature-length Montenegrin films, eight minority co-productions, some still unscreened co-productions, and successes in various categories best speak for our success this year," Perović points out.
In the meantime, the acting general director of the Directorate for Cultural and Artistic Creativity, Jelena Jovanović Nikolić, has also resigned from her position, raising issues, among other things, with the withdrawal of the appointment of the director of the Film Center.
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