BELGRADE IRISH FESTIVAL Celebrating Beckett, Jordan and Rea O scar-winning filmmaker Neil Jor- dan, award-winning actors Stephen Rea and Ruth Negga, as well as nu- merous other Irish directors, comedians, musicians, writers and visual artists will present themselves to the Serbian capital for the 14 th Belgrade Irish Festival (BIF), the region’s largest event of contemporary Irish culture, from 12 th to 21 st March. This year’s BIF connects two eras of Iri- sh culture: the contemporary scene, repre- sented by leading Irish film and theatre ar- tists, and the legacy shaped half a century ago by Samuel Beckett, one of the most in- fluential writers of 20 th -century Irish and European literature. Beckett’s legacy runs through all segments of this year’s BIF pro- gramme. Audiences will have the oppor- tunity to watch an exclusive theatre piece inspired by Beckett’s poetry at Atelje 212, the theatre that introduced Beckett to Bel- grade audiences 70 years ago, as well as 19 films based on his works and two exhibi- tions by Serbian and Irish artists inspired by his philosophy. “This year marks the 70 th anniversary of the premiere of Beckett’s Waiting for Go- dot at Atelje 212 in 1956, which was the first staging of Beckett in Eastern Europe at the time — a revolutionary cultural event that introduced Yugoslav audiences to the
aforementioned actor Stephen Rea, repre- senting a duo with the longest-standing collaboration in Irish cinema. Both artists will be awarded the Golden Seal of the Yugo- slav Film Archive for their contributions to film art, and audiences will have the oppor- tunity to watch the classic The Crying Ga- me, Jordan’s 1992 Oscar-winning screen- play, starring Rea and Forest Whitaker. Irish Film Week opens with a scree- ning of Christy, winner of the Grand Pri- ze for Best Film in the Generation 14plus programme, a section of the Berlin Film Fe- stival that focuses on the lives and expe- riences of young people. The film also rece- ived the Best Irish Film award at last year’s Galway Fleadh, Ireland’s most prestigio- us film festival. Christy is an emotionally charged, socially engaged drama about an eighteen-year-old who leaves his foster ho- me and begins living with his older brother. The BIF film programme is also mar- ked by Beckett. For the first time, Belgra- de audiences will be able to experience the eleven-hour programme Beckett on Film: 19 x 19, in which 19 directors bring 19 of Beckett’s works to the screen. This year’s BIF will also offer midnight film screenings and a surprise film for festivalgoers. The opening event of the 14 th BIF on 12 th March is also dedicated to Beckett’s legacy: a collective exhibition of Serbian and regional artists, entitled Siege in the Room, will be presented at Bioskop Balkan and, among others, will feature Aleksandar Denić, one of Europe’s leading contempo- rary scenographers. We are also awaited by the best club night of the year at Silosi, with the guest performance of Donal Dineen, a legendary Irish music editor, DJ and radio pioneer since the 1990s, who is known for his sets blending afrobeat, Latin, folk and contem- porary electronic music into an irresistible dance experience. Street artist James Early will paint a 180 square-metre wall mural at the Port of Belgrade during the festival. Northern Irish writer Mary Ethna Black, who lives between London and Belgrade, will present her new memoir Splav – My Family, a Bel- grade barge and other adventures, which is about life on the River Sava, and will re- ad the chapter entitled The Senjak Chicken Society. We will also get acquainted with the work of writer Ben Keatinge, who wi- ll complete a one-month literary residen- cy in Belgrade.
Nil Džordan / Neil Jordan
theatre of the absurd. Beckett himself even stayed in Belgrade then,” says Belgrade Irish Festival founder and director Jas Kaminski. Stephen Rea and Ruth Negga will per- form at Atelje 212 on 15 th and 16 th March, presenting a theatre piece based on Bec- kett’s poetry and directed by one of Ire- land’s most prolific directors, Alan Gilsenan. Rea is renowned for performing Beckett’s works and is one of the few actors around today who worked directly with the great writer. His stage partner in this performan- ce, Ruth Negga, an Irish-Ethiopian actre- ss, has been nominated for an Academy Award and won an Emmy Award in 2017. Irish Film Week will highlight the work of renowned Irish director Neil Jordan and
Semjuel Beket / Samuel Beckett
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