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Miloš Forman, 1972. Miloš Forman

Frensis Ford Kopola, 1973. Francis Ford Coppola

Sibil Šepard i Piter Bogdanovič, 1973.

Bernardo Bertoluči, 1977. Bernardo Bertolucci

Cybill Shepherd and Peter Bogdanovich

Klaudija Kardinale, 1979.

W hen film artists gathered around Belgrade journalist and film critic Milutin Čolić, proposing in 1970 that a major film festival be held, nobody took them seriously. They were dubbed adven- turers and regarded as children. Only the City of Belgrade showed understanding. And so it was that in 1971, on 8 th January, in the renovated “Kozara” cinema, stand- ing in front of the audience was Čolić him- self, as the new selector, who opened the first Fest by saying: “The beginning is al- ways the most difficult”. The world accept- ed Fest immediately, with major stars pre- paring to visit Belgrade.

Claudia

the land of his father and didn’t hide his delight. When he wasn’t taking care of Jack Nicholson, he went out in the city with Cybill and hung out with students. COPPOLA BOUGHT SOCKS When the famous Francis Ford Coppo- la landed in Belgrade in 1973, he discov- ered that his luggage had been lost. He asked to be taken shopping immediate- ly. In a department store in Belgrade city centre he bought a colourful shirt and two pairs of socks, then said he was ready for the reception. He had come to Belgrade to learn something new and to work. Howev- er, one evening he joined an orchestra of trumpeters and played with them; he was completely mesmerised by the trumpet.

hung out with students, laughed when an ushanka fur hat was placed on his head in front of Union House, and chat- ted with adoring fans. It was rumoured that he made himself feel very much at home in Čubura, allegedly due to one Čubura lady. CLAUDIA CARDINALE: IF FLYING IS NOT POSSIBLE... The guest of the 1979 edition of the festival was Claudia Cardinale. She was pregnant at the time and her doctor for- bade her from flying in a plane, but she didn’t give up on making the trip. She persuaded her husband to drive her to Belgrade.

Cardinale

FORMAN SHOT A MOVIE

HOW ROMAN POLANSKI DISAPPEARED

Milos Forman in Belgrade had crazy fun in Belgrade’s Skadarlija Street, but al- so worked. In a flat near theatre Atelier 212, he shot a film with directors Karpo Godina, Dušan Makavejev and Buck Hen- ry that was never shown.

BERTOLUCCI’S VERSIONS

Bernardo Bertolucci arrived in Bel- grade with two copies of his ground-break- ing film “1900”. The first was an integral version and it was shown to journalists. The second was shortened for the audi- ence and lasted only 270 minutes. DE NIRO WITH AN USHANKA Robert De Niro was a guest of Fest twice. He had fun around the nightclubs,

When he was a guest of Belgrade in 1980, Roman Polanski was at the centre of a sex scandal. He addressed journal- ists at that time and said that he planned to resolve things in America, but would never again live there. However, he left Belgrade incognito, with the organis- ers only realising that he was missing after he was an hour late for a press conference.

PETER BOGDANOVICH AMONG HIS OWN

Peter Bogdanovich arrived in Bel- grade in 1973 accompanied by his then lover Cybill Shepherd. He had come to

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