The Underground Witness

Both the resignation and the statement were more than sufficient for creating a cultural scandal, yet there was none. At the moment when this issue of Vreme is off to the printers, official Belgrade is preparing additional credits for Kusturica, the FEST events have keyed down and all is as it was, even a new president of the FEST Council has been elected - Milutin Colic, one of those who had in 1971 set in motion the later famous Belgrade film review.

In the meantime, Kusturica has stopped talking and after that short punch aimed at god knows whom via Politika's pages he has cut all contact with this public. He is preparing for the Paris and other European premiers of Underground, as well as for the forthcoming battle for the Oscar. All in all, even if he isn't mad at somebody in Belgrade, his above mentioned obligations would make it impossible for him to manage the next Belgrade film review. At the same time, since the entire "scandal" of FEST's concept, spiced with the sharp statement about "swindlers" in power was ended to Kusturica's advantage (the concept shall not be changed), the director's friends are calling to say that he "will help, after all" and that at the beginning of the new year famous movie personalities will arrive once again from abroad. The love affair of the capital and the director shall continue.

Kusturica and Belgrade fell in love, more than before, towards the beginning of the disintegration of a country once known as Yugoslavia. Until that moment Kusturica had publicly expressed opinions which some felt were "pro-Serbian", but when the situation became too serious and when more or less everybody from our former country had to take a stand, Kusturica chose Belgrade. He first showed that clearly by appearing, unexpectedly, at FEST 1992. Sanctions followed shortly afterwards, FEST was "suspended", Kusturica completed the filming of Arizona Dream and things became more intense. Kusturica decided to film Underground by Dusan Kovacevic's script, and local corporations got involved in the project, headed by Radio Television Serbia (RTS). Since that moment, local authorities have regarded Kusturica as some kind of "no. 1 state director".

Everything that is going on during the filming of Underground is watched closely, the director's every statement on Yugoslavia (current one) and for Yugoslavia, is broadcasted on prime television time and under headline news, and the introduction to the culmination of the love affair is signified by Kusturica's arrival as president of the FEST Council. The festival which was suspended due to the sanctions has come to life again in the midst of those same sanctions, while Kusturica unselfishly brings over to his capital a bunch of world-known "characters". Harvey Keitel, Beatrice Dalle, Johnny Depp... are just some of the names alongside which dumpy local representatives were sneering, showing the people how, despite everything, some people were still fond of us.

Still, the crescendo is reached after another "Golden Palm" which Kusturica picked up in Cannes, becoming, by that deed, until eternity "our Kusturica". The Serbian Minister of Culture - Nada Popovic Perisic, the general manager of RTS of that time - Milorad Vucelic, actors, journalists and trumpet players were celebrating in the middle of France a "Yugoslav victory", Radoje Kontic had sent his congratulations, the press triumphantly broadcasted malicious comments of the "others" from the former country on Kusturica's triumph. A similar euphoria was noted only a few months later, post-Athens: when the Yugoslav basketball team did a brilliant job, the Croatian team left the awards ceremony, the whole world, starting with Greece, hated us, while we in our enthusiasm threw rocks at an embassy and shouted "We'll f... Tudjman yet". All of that happened before Knin. If he didn't turn into Veljko Bulajic after Cannes (a character which the director openly despises), Kusturica can thank the fact that he moved off to Paris in time. The Belgrade premier, according to the guests and treatment on the here always state television, resembled most closely exactly those "Bulajic" shows with Neretva and Sutjeska and other films on the given topic: "epic poems of our brave fighters led by Tito" (who is, by the way, the most ridiculed character in Underground). That night in Sava Center literally everybody (except Slobodan Milosevic) showed up who meant something in this country's political scene. Vucelic's television filmed them while they were coming up on the red carpet, convinced that it was not Kusturica who had received the Golden Palm, but they themselves - with their skill and wise politics, which varied from instigators of war to instigators of peace.

All those exaggerations which follow the triumphs of "our people" all over the world most closely resembled Bulajic as despised by Kusturica. It even went up to the point where the Municipal Assembly of Rakovica begged the Municipal Government to "slightly modify" the Detailed City Plan for Kosutnjak, due to the fact that Kusturica at one point showed interest (and addressed the Municipality in writing), in building a house there. Everyone at Rakovica was so fascinated by this question that they immediately thought up how, on a certain part of Kosutnjak, a complex of some ten "business-housing objects" should be built for "deserving Belgrade citizens". The grapevine has it that, alongside Kusturica, Goran Bregovic was on that list.

However, luckily, the famous director remained where he was - in the Paris suburbs, so that the Detailed City Plan, at least so far, is unchanged, and the title of the "no. 1 state director", which is a common occurrence here, has been - "frozen".

Somewhere at this time begins the story of the scandal with the "swindlers, hoodlums and former money dealers", otherwise the same ones which the public was watching as they were ceremoniously making their entrance into Sava Center, pronouncing the FEST open, boasting of the Golden Palm and brushing elbows with Kusturica wherever they could, but mostly in places such as the Hyatt and other exclusive spots.

Namely, not coming to Belgrade, Kusturica was not in the midst of events which some have, carelessly, tried to use to their advantage. When he filled the position of president of the FEST Council, the director informed the public of a new concept of the festival, which, amongst other things, was to "institutionalize" the festival. Simplified, FEST was supposed to receive from its founder (Municipal Assembly) an office in the Sava Center, and funds for four full-time employees who would manage various festival business all year long.

However, it seems that Belgrade's answer to the whole plan was "yeah, sure". Kusturica had, according to his Belgrade friends, managed to speak to Belgrade Mayor Nebojsa Covic in March, on which occasion Covic again "promised" everything that was needed. Since then, his friends say, he couldn't manage to even speak to Covic, let alone realize his plan.

The second blow landed towards the end of August. To be precise, on August 29, when Milenko Kasanin, vice-president of the Municipal Government and since recently vice-president of the FEST Council, organized a little "secret meeting" with Belgrade's private film distributors.

A lot was said during that meeting, and somehow Kusturica found out. Amongst other things, that according to Kasanin, the "municipal budget was not a gold well" and that there isn't enough money for various "arty" things such as FEST by Kusturica's recipe.

To make matters worse, Kasanin invited the distributors to somehow take over FEST, and they, on the following "secret meeting" (September 16 in Belgrade's Cultural Center), replied "yes" and suggested their concept of the festival in which nothing was left of the "arty" stuff, and FEST was to be moved from the Sava Center into cinemas in the center of Belgrade. When he found out, Kusturica wrote a short letter of resignation to Nebojsa Covic and convened his last FEST Council session for October 13. Whether he would have said something then we don't know, since Milenko Kasanin beat him to it, held the session without Kusturica (October 9) on which, without discussion, Kusturica's resignation was read and accepted.

Which is when that statement was printed in Politika, and Belgrade started wondering about "swindlers and hoodlums" recognizing many which Kusturica surely didn't have in mind. The man was obviously dealing with Kasanin, with no intention of probing into the "problem" any deeper.

In the actual Belgrade Assembly at that moment the farce was continued. According to some sources, Covic rebuked Kasanin; both of them tried to win Kusturica back to the Council; another session of the Council was held with a telephone which was supposed to be used for a conversation with Kusturica, but that idea was abandoned; on the actual session, those who were trying to find out who the "swindlers" and "hoodlums" and "former money dealers" were, were silenced; the distributor's concept of FEST with no "arty" stuff fell through; Kusturica was replaced by Milutin Colic; Kusturica became silent; representatives of the authority in the FEST Council remained the same (Kasanin) as if nothing had happened.

This sudden peace should of course be understandable. There actually never was a war. Because Kusturica obviously needs a country, whatever it may be like, and wherever it may be, and because this country needs Kusturica. The "swindlers, hoodlums and former money dealers", which all of us recognize and which Kusturica never even thought about, will therefore remain unchanged and undiscovered. At least until someone, in some fifty years, doesn't film Underground II and has fun at the expense of the current characters. Imagine Miki Manojlovic opening a new subway station in Belgrade next to Sloba. Horrible.