In The Bend of The River: Book Review
In The Bend of the River is the colourful and often amusing account of a British couple who took the unusual decision to up sticks and settle in the small ethnic-Hungarian village of Stara Moravica in Vojvodina. In almost equal parts memoir, travelogue and nature guide, this is the diary of their life less ordinary, clearly told with affection by two people who learned to live alongside unfamiliar people in a strange and foreign land.
In this book, Robert MacCurrach, a former soldier turned forester, photographer and avid nature lover, recalls his exposure to one of the lesser-known corners of Europe, after he and his wife Tricia settled in northern Serbia. Through their recollections and vivid descriptions of the ups and downs of a new life, we learn about the couple’s experiences and how they got to know, and be accepted by, the people they met there.
Different Face of Serbia in London
London will be immersed in a celebration of contemporary Serbian culture next month, as the London School of Economics schedules an impressive festival of photography, films and discussion as part of its Days of Alternative Culture, Art and Science programme.
The LSE’s Different Face of Serbia festival (5-14 October) will present and debate modern Serbian culture in a programme of photography, films and discussion. Running consecutive to the numerous Balkan cinema screenings as part of the city’s Raindance Film Festival, this series of events will make October a month of exploration, celebration and discovery for those interested in contemporary Serbian culture.
Go Wild In The Country
My curiosity was struck recently by a typically quirky story of the type that regularly features in tabloids and at the end of news shows worldwide. This report involved a plucky pensioner who pulled herself out of a deep well. Using only her bare hands, the eighty-year-old woman had to scramble out of the eleven-metre well after she fell in while trying to fetch water at her home in the southern Serbian village of Ivanje.
It appears that this elderly woman got out of the situation a little shaken but not at all stirred by her dilemma. After climbing back to dry land, the unperturbed Visiljka Lazović said, “I got fed up with waiting for someone to come and rescue me. It was getting cold so I climbed out myself.” Apparently it is true what that say: they don’t make them like that anymore.
Montevideo Will Represent Serbia At Oscars 2012
Montevideo, Bog Te Video (God Bless You) has been chosen as Serbia’s representative at the Oscars in 2012. The smash hit film that tells the nostalgic and highly stylised story of Serbia’s path to the first World Cup Final in Uruguay, won the honour in stiff competition against other Serbian language films released in 2011.
Since its release at the start of the year, this warm and heartening tale has gone on to be Serbia’s highest grossing film. Director Dragan Bjelogrlić will compete in the Foreign Language category at the 84th American Academy Awards in Los Angeles, on 26 February 2012. The film is rich in period atmosphere and heavy on compassion and national pride. Starring Miloš Biković, Petar Strugar, Nina Janković, Danina Jeftić and Milutin Karadzić, it is based on a book by sports journalist Vladimir Stanković.
