In the Shade of the "Golden Palm"

Jeanne Moreau, President of the Jury, and the other jury members argued over who was going to win the award for ten hours. It started raining in Cannes just before the start of the award ceremony. Those who were rooting for Emir Kusturica saw this as a good omen, because it was raining ten years ago when he was awarded the "Golden Palm" for his film "When Father Was Away On A Business Trip". At the time Kusturica had been unable to attend. This time he was present.

Two days before this Kusturica told foreign journalists he was a Yugoslav, even though he has applied for French citizenship. The film "The Underground" is ours even though it was made with French money, which from the domestic point of view means two things: that Kusturica's success is the state's success, and that this award to a domestic film must be underscored, as well as links with culture, and that the promotion of Kusturica's success is the promotion of each and every one of us.

Apart from Kusturica, two "Golden Palms" were won by Luchino Visconti, Francis Ford Coppola and Bill August. The Belgrade premiere of "The Underground" will probably be held on June 17. It is expected that the misunderstanding over authorship rights for the German song "Lili Marlen", which is sung by the protagonists of the film, will be cleared up by then. The film's distributor "Vans" hopes that Kusturica will shorten the original three hours and 12 minutes to a more acceptable length for the domestic public.