“Igor, you could have done this earlier,” said actor Zdenko Jel\u010di\u0107 after the director of Cinehill Motovun Film Festival, Igor Mirkovi\u0107, presented him with the 50-Year Award for his half-century dedication to acting and film. Prior to that, Jel\u010di\u0107 delighted the audience with entertaining anecdotes from the world of cinema and shared his memories from different stages of his life.<\/p>\n\n
“I believe I’ve done everything I wanted to do. Occasionally, I might still take on a role in a film, but I don’t need a big role,” said the popular commander Ljubo from “Kapelski kresovi” (Kapela Bonfires), also known to the younger generations as Blago Anti\u0107 from the TV series “Novine” (The Paper).<\/p>\n\n
Among numerous reasons for the success of “Novine” (The Paper), Jel\u010di\u0107 mentioned his understanding of political systems. “I brought my 187 cm and my face. I didn’t act, I portrayed myself. It’s the pinnacle when you achieve that,” Jel\u010di\u0107 joked. \n \n<\/p>\n\n
Comparing Yugoslav cinematography to today’s Croatian film industry, Jel\u010di\u0107 said, “If it required ten million, they invested thirty million. Now, they spend two to three million on a film, and with that, you can’t make much. If the Ministry of Culture provided 300 million per year for Croatian cinema instead of 30 million, you would see what kind of films we would have.” His words were met with approval from the audience.<\/p>\n\n
Jel\u010di\u0107 concluded the conversation with a beautiful recitation of “Balada ohridskim trubadurima” by Branko Miljkovi\u0107, and the audience rewarded him with a long applause, thus giving their farewell to the legend of the Croatian film scene.<\/p>\n