ZAFRANOVIĆ: EVIL CANNOT ALWAYS BE RECOGNIZED EASILY

PALE, OCTOBER 14 /SRNA/ - Film director Lordan Zafranović gave a lecture in Pale today as part of the Republika Srpska Cinematheque's Film Campus, speaking about his latest film "Golden Cut 42: The Children of Kozara" and addressing the boundary between good and evil in people, as well as society's responsibility to suppress hatred rather than encourage it.

After the audience at the Pale Cultural Center watched a clip from the film, Zafranović said recognizing evil in a person was a complex process, particularly at a time of deep divisions and hostility.

He said it was extremely difficult to portray on film the process by which a person crosses from good into evil, because evil cannot always be recognized from someone's outward appearance or behavior.

"A person is a person. You have the same face as I do, and there are many faces around us that take part in evil while looking completely normal," Zafranović said.

He said convincingly portraying the transition from one state to another required a great deal of time and careful cinematic consideration.

"It is very difficult to analyze. A lot of screen time is needed to show the transition from one state to another," Zafranović said.

Speaking about wartime circumstances, he noted that conflicts often push people onto opposing sides, with differences based on religion, race or other factors.

For that reason, Zafranović said, the question of evil could not be viewed separately from social circumstances, ideologies and relations among people.

He particularly warned of the dangers of spreading hatred, saying it creates an environment in which evil can quickly take hold.

Society should therefore focus on suppressing hatred rather than spreading it, as he said was happening today.

Zafranović said the recent premiere of "Golden Cut" at the Belgrade FEST film festival had special significance for him.

"It is very moving to see your own film on such a large screen, at a festival that means a great deal to me," Zafranović said, adding that it was at FEST that he first saw many films by major directors he admired.

He said the sense of unity with the audience was particularly meaningful, noting that during the screening they seemed to breathe as one while watching the film.

"That was my goal, of course, and also confirmation that I had made a film for the broadest possible audience, which is very important," the director said.

Speaking about reactions to his work, Zafranović said it was always the same in his case - some people adored his films while others rejected them, with such reactions often linked to political views and attitudes toward the subjects he explores.

Looking ahead, Zafranović said he planned to use artificial intelligence to adapt a comic book from his childhood, Sergei Solovyov's "The Emperor's Squire," into a chivalric romance film intended for audiences of different generations.