We believe that the Mediterranean space can best be articulated through film. We do not care whether we call this holiday a film festival, program or review. What is important is that our small Mediterranean games celebrate the cultural vitality and diversity of the sea that we all belong to.
Long preparations to open the first multiplex movie theatre in Rijeka have been taking place on the eastern side of the city. On the town’s western side, swimming pools are being built in preparation for some Mediterranean games. Somewhere in between those two sides of Rijeka, the second holiday of films from Mediterranean coasts will take place. We believe that the Mediterranean area can best be articulated through film. Film is probably a more suitable way to celebrate this region than any other art form or the sports that are often favored for this purpose. We do not care whether we call this holiday a film festival, program or review. What is important is that our small Mediterranean games celebrate the cultural vitality and diversity of the sea that we all belong to.
A limited budget prevented us from acting as megalomaniacs when selecting the film titles, which what often happens during similar events. Therefore, we chose titles we believe to be most intriguing. Maybe films from this geographic area are not always the sunniest. They are not postcards from summer vacations. Instead, they make us think, such as the film A Perfect Day by Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreiga, which depicts Lebanon as a country of suppressed memories, that is forbidden to count its dead and therefore treats visibility as an intermittency of time. Since we live in an era of climate changes, they are somewhat reflected in the selection of films, even when we move away from the sea. The title of Ceylan’s film Climates refers to a visual metamorphosis that happens in the film itself; the story begins in summer on the Turkish coast and ends in winter in the Turkish inlands.
French director Jacques Fieschi’s film La Californie takes place in a de-glamorized Cannes in winter time that shows the cozy lethargy of a fancy vacation spot. On the other hand, Rabah Ameur-Zaďmeche is perhaps the most Mediterranean author of all. His film Bled Number One discusses bodies, the violence of a self-absorbed society and, most distinctly, about the Mediterranean’s mythological pulse. The Mediterranean that is shown on festival screens is a sensual fusion of bodies and space, landscapes and atmospheric phenomena, no matter if it is Ceylan’s snow storm or Babaja’s sensual fishing. And maybe Babaja’s Cres is the furthest point reached by this year’s Games’ film eye. But their sun and spirit have been and remain similar to the orange hat that the author Rabah always wears in front of or behind the camera. (Dragan Rubeša, selector of the program Mediterranean games)