As part of the educational program of the festival, a master class was held by the Serbian director, president of the Spirit of Fire, Emir Kusturica.
At the beginning of the conversation about cinema, Kusturica noted that cinema can be different, first of all, in the form of narrative: dialogues, like, for example, Woody Allen, or atmospheric scenes that convey state and mood, like Michelangelo Antonioni. He spoke about mise-en-scène as the most important tool for directing and literature as the basis for constructing history - Russian, of course, but not only (he mentioned the Frenchman Marcel Proust). He talked about metaphors, talking and even showing fragments of films by Alexander Dovzhenko and Georges Méliès.
Kusturica cited many facts from his own experience. I remembered how I fell in love with cinema while growing up in Sarajevo, and how I studied in Prague. He impressed the audience with a story about how, as a student, he rushed between a date with a girl Maya and a screening of “Amarcord” - neither one nor the other succeeded. When the director finally got to see the great Fellini’s film, he fell asleep during the very first scenes. However, this is only the beginning of the story, which ended with a happy ending - both educational (I watched the film), and professional (he made a successful debut film), and personal (he married Maya), and at the same time with an important conclusion: cinema should be watched not formally, as Some diligent students do this, while subtly feeling and at the same time learning about life. This is a very important condition in order to subsequently transfer realities to the screen.
Read more about the director's creative method, magical realism and the role of auteur cinema in the development of the film industry in Recording discussions.
The events of the festival’s business and educational programs were united by the common theme “The special language of the national cinematography of the BRICS countries.” More than 200 delegates from 18 countries took part in them, and the broadcasts were watched by more than 1 million users. “Spirit of Fire” became one of the first cultural events within the framework of Russia’s Chairmanship of the BRICS organization. The communication partner of the festival is the Roscongress Foundation.
