Bella Ciao’s documentary about the universal song against authoritarian regimes opens the 25th FDF

Opening screenings of the film Bella Ciao – For Freedom (Bella Ciao – Per la liberta) trees at 8 p.m the director will also attend Giulia Giapponesi. The festival will last until March 17.

Bella bye is an Italian chant that dates back to the late 19th century and spread during the anti-fascist movement before the fall of Benito Mussolini (1883–1945). Even later in the 1940s, the tune remained a song of rebellion, but then completely disappeared from the public in the 1950s. Thanks to the performance Yves Montand from 1963, the tune was revived in a decade marked by rebellion. Ever since, Bella ciao has been a universal anthem against authoritarian regimes, from youth revolts around the world to Kurdish freedom fighters on the border between Syria, Turkey and Iraq.

“What does a poem do? Melody and unmistakable lyrics; when we talk about partisans, the text is of course important. But what text? Several different factors were involved in the creation of the song Bella ciao, which keeps the song so alive today. Many shoots sprouting from a plant that sprouted from countless seeds today represent variations of this chant around the world,” wrote the director.

It is possible to watch the film even before the official start of the FDF Eclipse, which is one of the five films in the competition program. The solar eclipse, which was visible on the territory of the former Yugoslavia in 1999, is a metaphor for the twilight of Yugoslavia and Serbia under Slobodan Milošević, as understood by a director born in Serbia and living in Norway Nataša Urban. The film will be screened on March 10 at 5 p.m. in Kinodvor.

Also, before the official start of the festival, there is a film to watch A happy worker directed John Webster. It is a documentary that, on the one hand, shows people who were subjected to extremely stressful conditions at work, and on the other, experts, such as an anthropologist, talk about modern overload and exhaustion David Graeber (1961–2020). The film will be screened in the Kosovel hall of Cankarjev dom on March 10 at 5 p.m.

“The idea for the documentary came a few years ago during the period when my wife worked for Nokia, from the golden days to the Microsoft takeover. I have witnessed first hand the consequences of poor leadership. I watched this wonderful, dedicated, highly skilled team just get lost… and then the whole Nokia thing turned out to be a tragedy for Finland,” said Finnish-born British director John Webster about the documentary.

For the Amnesty International Slovenia award this time, there are also other players in the running for the film Mrk Be my voice Swedish-Iranian female directors Nahid Persson, Casa Sussana French director By Sebastien Lifshitzwhich has already been awarded at the FDF, A house made of reeds directed of Simon Lerengo Wilmont from Belgium and an Israeli-Danish-Finnish co-production Innocence Israeli director Guy Davidi.

This year’s retrospective is about the Austrian documentary director Hubert Sauperand the festival is also dedicated to the Slovenian director of short films To Mac Sajkowho said goodbye this year.

The accompanying program includes, among other things, an exhibition by a photographer Matjaž Krivec Following the paths of deforestation in Boliviaround table Dialogues on Slovenian documentary films and discussions after film screenings.