5 years ago

Milorad Krstić: Art is the best way to ignite hope

Director Milorad Krstić brought his film "Ruben Brandt, Collector" at the screen of Cinema "Jusuf Gërvalla" in Peja, through the tenth edition of Anibar Festival. Anibar Press interviewed him to find out more about the film, but also Krstić's fears and hopes. Read the interview with him!

Vala Gashi

Anibar Press: What do you think sets this film apart from other animation films? What do you think is something that the viewers should look out for?  

Milorad Krstić: I think there are similar feature animations, but I don’t follow them. I personally didn’t see the animated film which is like Ruben Brandt. I think this film is something between the movies of Peter Greenaway and Quentin Tarantino. We have some action and some humor and some psychology and the world graphic and for these reasons it would be like Quentin Terantino. 

 

 

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Anibar Press: What inspired you to do this film? 

Milorad Krstić: I’m a painter and all my life I’ve made drawings and paintings. My great teachers are from the Altamira Cave paintings, the ancient Egyptians and Greeks, the Renaissance paintings, from Modigliani to Picasso, and Andy Warhol. I always tried to be inspired by those painters but also tried to add my personal stamp so that it is original. I finished a law degree, not the academy, and that is why I said those paintings have been the love of my life. I wanted to somehow transform the movies and the visual world and give them my personal stamp. And I do hope I succeeded to make these personal pictures[shots] which combined all of art history and the enemy. 

 

Anibar Press: How does this film relate to you and what you have been through in your life? Do you relate to the main character? 

Milorad Krstić: In a way, all the characters are there because when we were writing the script it was very important to have different characters as part of the film. We have tried to create some interesting characters. In fact, a two-dimensional Membrano Bruno couldn’t exist because when I found the name, Membrano, I kept repeating it and it started to sound like a symphony to me. Somehow, he (Membrano Bruno) is the bank robber because he is two-dimensional. He can just go to sleep in, how do you say, under the door because it is two-dimensional. And somehow, we started to create those characters. Kobalski, for example, was a private detective and he was created to be strong, to be sometimes wild, but to be the glamourous one, the nice guy, and to have this good relationship with Marina who is a strong, young woman from Rome. You can see her swimming pool, the house, and everything with servants. And when we talked about building those characters’ worlds, we wanted to make them rich, to make them complex. And all of them, of course, because Ruben Brandt is a psychotherapist. All those characters must somehow be criminals. We tried to make opposites and connections. In fact, if I’m really opening all the characters in the story, the most important task is not to be boring. 

 

Anibar Press: Why did you choose animation?

Milorad Krstić: I’m a painter, so for me it’s still 2D. Even though we have 3D now also. But for me it’s the same. It’s a line and a drawing. And painting 2D is forever. 20,000 years ago, in an Alasko cave or Thermeero cave there were 2D paintings on the walls and after 20,000 years it is still 2D paintings. Now in the last century, indeed, the last 20, 30, 40 years, we have 3D animation or whatever or three-dimensional paintings. And we will have this virtual 3D world, but I still believe that we will keep up with two dimensional paintings because somehow for me two dimensional drawings are sometimes stronger and more impactful than a photograph, stronger than a three dimensional because you get rid of anything which can be decorated. Sometimes just a line could be the essence and that’s why I believe in 2D. 2D animation or paintings will never die. 

 

Anibar Press: This year’s theme at Anibar is Fears and Hopes. As a result, we’re asking everyone what theirs are. Would you mind sharing yours? 

Milorad Krstić: My fear and my hope are somehow united with time. It’s two sides of the same coin. It’s life and when you are alive, when I’m living, I feel I have a fear that I’m not forever. I am just passing. At the same time, I hope I will not live in vain. I have the fear and the hope, and together they help me. If I have the left foot as fear and the right as hope, they go together. Without fear, I would be lazy. I would do nothing and somehow this fear of life passing by so quickly, so fast. I must take time and grasp it. As for the hope part, I hope that this next animated project for the kids is what’s giving me the energy to talk about it, to make it better.

 

Anibar Press: Is this your first time in Kosovo at the Anibar Festival? What are your impressions so far and do you have any critiques?

Milorad Krstić: It’s nice to be here. I enjoyed traveling from the airport to Peja, your city, and I’m curious now because we just arrived. We only saw the town from the hotel but now we will have time to see it the next morning and are leaving tomorrow afternoon.

 

Anibar Press: What is the best way to ignite hope?

Milorad Krstić: Somehow, I believe that art could be the best way to move people into an optimistic mood. If you can play a pleasant cord with your guitar or make a good drawing, or make something good with something good, or write some poems this way, you are probably on the right path to be satisfied with yourself for that day. And that day is enough. If you manage to do something every day that you are proud of, you will be better. 

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