Zagreb report, April 20 2002

Hello from Zagreb, from where we will give you as many updates as possible.
Arrived last friday in a welcomming city with a good atmosphere and friendly people.

Our first evening was discovering the city. A beer is called "pivo" and bars close between 10 and 11 p.m..
So it looks like it's gonna be the first healthy IFC in history. (Though we have our doubts)

At 20:00 hours there was the opning ceremony in the Palace Hotel, the theme was: "All Nations Night".

Below is an excerpt of the opening speech from Edwin Brys.

WHy are we in Zagreb?
Because we are on the right place now. For several years, HRT is present on the the international feature scene, not only by the glory of the past, but also by the energy and talent of young feature makers.
Perhaps that HRT can show us a way how to deal with the clash between tradition and renewal.

"We have to discover the references of the younger generation, not educate themand initiate them in our styles."
"Let's avoid to be the fetishists of the past"
Gerard Mortier stated in a interview on ARTE television.

On the other hand there is an immense hunger from younger ones to know what happened before them.
A hunger for guidance, whithaout paternalism.

We are at a turning point. Never we felt so strongly the tension between personal liberty as a programme maker and the constraints of imposed formats and channel profiles.

We will have to find the flexibility and creativity to deal with this clash of radio culture.