The Popovics (Svetlana and Zoran), the organisers of the festival Magnificent7, that takes place every year in January in Belgrade, and has done so for five years, with my privileged post as co-selector of the seven films (you can read a lot more about it on this site, go to ”search”) arranged the most beautiful four day (almost) film-free tour for me and my wife at the end of September. I want to share some visual moments with you and can only warmly recommend you to go to the Serbia south of Belgrade to experience landscapes of green mountains, fields, rivers, lakes, monasteries and churches – and food and wine and slivovitj and rakija.

Have a look at the Angel and read what Wikipedia says about it:  

White Angel is a detail of a fresco from the Mileševa monastery circa 1230 AD in Serbia, Mironosnice na Hristovom grobu (Myrrhbearers on Christ’s Grave). It is also one of the most famous frescoes in Serbian culture. It depicts an angel sitting in front of the tomb of Christ. This monastery belongs to a Latin period in Byzantine art. The first satellite broadcast in 1963 between Europe and North America sent a picture of White Angel from Mileševa in first broadcasting frames to salute American people from Europeans… a true and unique message of overall peace.

There is a golden rule when you are on the road and get hungry – go where the truck drivers go. In combination with the knowledge of our hosts, including Misko, the driver, who take film crews around in his van, we ended up in fine local lunch restaurants, and had meat and water and good bread, and soup, and the Montenegrin wine Vranac. Lunch times are a bit more flexible than we are used to in Northern Europe – could easily be around 3pm.

Photo: Still life with Nokia.

Yugoslavia, a country that once was. At a time that was  much easier for many people. It is absurd when you get to talk to people in Serbia and ask them where they come from… well, my mother was born in Croatia and my father is from Montenegro and my grandmother… and they all speak the same language with tiny differences.

Memories from Yugo-time are to be found everywhere. Look at the photo of our driver Misko next to the small car. This is what Zoran Popovic told me about the car: the little car is called FICA (and C hase the same additional dash as French é – and it’s pronounced like in Italian Ciao)…. But how could big strong Serbian males fit into it.

Two images came constantly to my eyes when we travelled the amazing landscapes of Serbia – reminded us in many places again and again of Tuscany. One was all the unfinished houses, the reason for which we were told to be a combination of vanity (”we must have a two-store house as the neighbour”) and the fact that when your house is still under construction you dont have to pay tax. So many move into the basement floor and never finish the floor above.

The other image was of the sculptures in the landscape, according to the Popovics: the hay sculpture is called STOG. It is often said STOG SENA (translation: STOG of hay.

Turn your head – sorry I don’t know how to make it en face – and watch the man on the top of a stog, two of them is food for one cow during winter time.