The film of our famous actor, director and screenwriter Radoš Bajić, “The Heroes of Halyard”, produced by Telekom Srbija and the production company “Contrast Studios”, premiered in a packed hall of Belgrade’s MTS hall, on Tuesday, October 10. The numerous crew of “The Heroes of Halyard” received a ten-minute standing ovation from the audience and the visitors were particularly delighted by the appearance of Žarko Laušević, who portrays the character of the protagonist Kosta Jović in the film.
The premiere was attended by Culture Minister Maja Gojković, acting as an envoy of the Serbian President, Aleksandar Vučić, Labour Minister Nikola Selaković, Serbian Patriarch Porfirije, Telekom Srbija CEO Vladimir Lučić, as well as the director of the Telekom Srbija Multimedia Division, Aleksandra Martinović, the U.S. Ambassador Christopher Hill, the poet Matija Bećković, the mayor of Belgrade, Aleksandar Šapić and other numerous dignitaries.
The stars of “The Heroes of Halyard”, actors Nela Mihailović, Nina Nešković, Nikola Rakočević, Radovan Vujović, Branko Janković, Čubrilo Ćupić, Teodora Dragićević, Ivan Vučković, Đorđe Marković, Slobodan Boda Ninković, Branislav Lečić, as well as their actor colleagues Jadran Malkovič, Miona Marković, Anđelka Prpić, Andrija Milošević, Petar Strugar and Suzana Mančić, paraded on the red carpet.
After the screening, the mayor of Belgrade, Aleksandar Šapić, hosted a formal reception at the City Hall on the occasion of the film premiere, saying that “The Heroes of Halyard” was a historical film that would gain more importance as time goes by.
– For the first time we have a film that speaks in this way about a great tragedy and the tragic fratricidal war that took place in this region eighty years ago. Today we witnessed a “little history” because the film will help new generations to see many historical facts in a different way. The film will be a turning point in the future relations with our former and future friends in the world. It is also extremely important for the young generations who, unfortunately, do not know many historical facts because they had nowhere to hear them, let alone read them – said Šapić. The author of the film, Radoš Bajić, thanked the City of Belgrade and the Mayor Aleksandar Šapić for hosting the crew in the magnificent building of the Old Palace, adding that this project meant a lot not only in the field of culture, but also in the reaffirmation of the forgotten traditional values of the Serbian people. – This film shows that we are a people with dignity, honour, pride, that we are patriots and that we love our country, and that we are not such “bad guys” as we were portrayed by some Western artists – said Bajić, thanking everyone who participated and supported the creation of this important film.
The film “The Heroes of Halyard” is inspired by historical events. In the spring of 1944, at the end of the Second World War, the largest single rescue operation of American and the Allied Air Forces’ pilots in the history of world aviation, known as “The Operation Halyard”, was underway in the heart of Šumadija. The story of the three Jović brothers and their family, torn between the opposing ideologies, unfolds in the background. While Mirko is fighting in the ranks of the Royal Yugoslav Army in The Fatherland, Sreten joins the partisans. Ilija, the youngest son whom their father wants to save, is torn between the two sides. The family saga and their individual tragic fates are seen as a paradigm of the Serbian national tragedy, fratricide and ideological divisions, which eventually cause a downfall of the entire nation. “The Heroes of Halyard”, a film produced by “Contrast Studios” and Telekom Srbija, with the support of the Ministry of Culture, the Vojvodina Government, the Film Centre of Serbia, the Radio and Television of Serbia, the Ministry of Defence and other sponsors, will hit the cinemas in Serbia and the region on October 12.
