Director and screenwriter Goran Radovanović won a prize of 250,000 dollars and a five-carat Yakut diamond at the first “Diamond Butterfly” Film Festival of the Eurasian Film Academy in Moscow, for the direction of the film The Erl-King which once again attracted great attention of the international audience.
About 70 representatives from China, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Belarus, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Indonesia, Serbia, Turkmenistan, and South Africa flew to Moscow for the award ceremony of the first Open Eurasian Film Award “Diamond Butterfly”.
The head of the Union of Cinematographers of Russia, director, founder and main ideologist of the first Open Eurasian Film Award “Diamond Butterfly”, Nikita Mikhalkov, was on stage to present the main awards – “For Contribution to World Cinema” and “Best Film”.
Serbian Goran Radovanović was awarded the award for the best director for the film The Erl-King.
He thanked the organizers of the award and emphasized that “a person can only be happy if he is free, and freedom is based on courage, which in turn is based on traditions.”
The Erl-King premiered last year at the 46th International Film Festival in Moscow, then at the 48th Screenplay Festival in Vrnjačka Banja, while the Belgrade premiere was on October 1st, 2024.
The main roles are played by Vojin Ćetković, Sara Klimoska and Miloš Biković, while the role of the boy Sava is played by Jakša Prpić. The film also stars Anđelija Filipović, Gordana Gadžić, Branka Šelić and Milena Jakšić.
Eight-year-old Sava was evacuated due to NATO aggression in 1999 – his mother takes the boy away to avoid death and preserve his pure and naive view of the world.
Povodom ovog značajnog priznanja, ministar kulture Nikola Selaković uputio je čestitku:
“I heartily congratulate Goran Radovanović, as well as the entire team, on another valuable international well-deserved recognition for the film The Erl-King won at the first ‘Diamond Butterfly’ Film Festival of the Eurasian Film Academy in Moscow, which once again confirms the high level of Serbian filmmaking, recognized internationally.
The outstanding screenwriter and director Goran Radovanović masterfully presented the suffering of our country with unfathomable consequences for numerous generations whose lives were destroyed by the the NATO aggression against Serbia In 1999, one of the most significant defeats of civilization that marked the modern history of the Serbian people.
The brilliant anti-war drama about the common resistance of our people to evil is undoubtedly one of the most valuable not only cinematographic, but also cultural achievements of the past few years. I congratulate Goran once again with the wish that he will continue to achieve success on the domestic and international film scene as a true cultural ambassador of the Republic of Serbia.”
Film Center Serbia, headed by Acting director Jakov Petrović, congratulated the director and screenwriter Goran Radovanović on winning the prestigious award, wishing him personally and the entire team of the film many more successful films.
This extraordinary triumph is a source of pride not only for Serbian cinematography, but also for the entire country. The anti-war drama The Erl-King, which follows the story of an eight-year-old boy Sava and his mother during the NATO aggression in 1999, once again enthralled the international audience with its emotional power, combining the intimate perspective of a child with the collective memory of one of the most difficult periods of modern history.
The film, realized with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia and Film Center Serbia, confirms the high artistic reach of local authors and productions, as well as their visibility and competitiveness on the global stage.
“This prize is the greatest recognition of Goran’s vision and of the team that created this powerful work. Film Center Serbia is proud to have been a partner in the realization of the film The Erl-King and to contribute to the affirmation of Serbian films at the most prestigious world festivals,” said Jakov Petrović, acting director of Film Center Serbia.
Photo: Pavel Bednyakov/Đorđe Bajić/
Minister Selaković photo: Nemanja Nikolić