Luka Bursać's latest film ‘Videotheque’ is having its premiere at the 52nd International Film Festival FEST as part of the Gala programme.
After the successful, award-winning debut at the 46th FEST in 2017, the dark comedy ‘Afterparty’, Luka Bursać returns to FEST to present his new film, which he directed and wrote.
Before the premiere of ‘Videotheque’, which is scheduled for 28 February (Cineplexx Galerija, 7.30 p.m.), actors Relja Popović and Tamara Isailović, in addition to director Luka Bursać, spoke about the film to the FEST accredited journalists.
After a failed robbery, the main character of ‘Videotheque’ finds refuge in an abandoned video club. Since he is forced to spend the night there, the three films he chooses to watch will take him to the incredible worlds of film stories, and that is why Bursać's new film is an omnibus film.
According to Bursać, he is grateful to the artistic director Pantelić for recognizing the quality that qualifies this film for FEST in ‘Videotheque’.
‘I would say that this film is, in a way, my love letter to a specific subgenre, which is inspiring to me, and is characterized as a midnight film. These are films that, due to their shocking subject matter or controversy, had no place in mainstream cinemas, and which are part of American cinema from the late 70s and early 80s,’ explained Bursać.
According to him, these were films shown at midnight, in a limited number of cinemas. ‘I think that the influence of American films on my inspiration is clear, as well as directors such as Cronenberg, Carpenter, David Lynch in earlier works, but also the influence of European arthouse, Żuławski, and Romero,’ said Bursać.
According to him, the very structure of those films was quite free and that was what guided him. ‘Omnibus is usually done because you do not have enough money, and then you try to pack more directors into this format, in order to get to a feature film. ‘Videoteque’ is a small precedent case, because I am the director of all four films that look completely different aesthetically,’ concluded Bursać.
Musician, actor and producer Relja Popović, who plays the main role in one of the stories of the omnibus ‘Videoteque’, stated that he had returned to acting after several years of absence exactly because of director Bursać and his latest film, for the director gave him freedom. ‘When I get a role, I look at what is interesting to me, whether I have something to explore and dig into myself and make the journey interesting for me. In this film, I was supposed to play a completely different role, but Luka and I came up with the idea that the role you saw is what I should play,’ explained Popović.
For Tamara Isailović, who has a notable role in the last story of Luka Bursać's omnibus ‘Videotheque’, this is her film debut. ‘I did not expect to be chosen, but enjoyed filming in Majdanpek, where everyone was wonderful to us,’ said the young actress.
In addition to Relja Popović and Tamara Isailović, the actors in ‘Videotheque’ are: Igor Benčina, Miona Marković, Zoran Cvijanović, Đorđe Kadijević, Bogdan Farcas, Jovana Belović, Jovan Jovanović, Tamara Isailović, Petar Zekavica, Miloš Samolov, Alisa Lacko and many others. The film will be screened on 28 February (Cineplexx Ušće, Hall 2, 5.30 p.m.) and 1 March (Cineplexx Ušće, Hall 1, 2.30 p.m.).
