A promotional video for the 2003 ECHO Festival on Big War Island in Belgrade, Serbia.
"Mired in what, from the outside, looked like true Balkan chaos," wrote a visiting BBC reporter, "the festival always looked as if it was on the brink of falling apart."
For TV adverts, see:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPN_KE...
And: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFRTjh-RI2c
Other promotional videos are here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDZ7Q8sdxP8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58J-mWmAaKQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWqCYXF4QY4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWoCZkMS_58
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Al2rSG-fo90
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TRANSCRIPT:
CHARLES CRAWFORD, (HM Ambassador to Belgrade):
"British creativity and design and music are a big export sector. One doesn't like to talk about these things in a purely commercial sense but it's an important part of cultural life that we're actually very strong at. And we're good at both the substance -- British music is popular around the world -- and we're also very good at organising these kinds of events as well as the music itself. So this festival here in Belgrade is a really good occasion for us to demonstrate all aspects of that.
"This festival, I'm told, the British newspaper the Independent has already put it in its list of top European festivals -- it's already got a good reputation. I don't know what the festival will be like, I hope it's a success, but the marketing's clearly pretty good. It's important for European centres to have these festivals that young people come to because it gives a buzz, it shows that it's a place which is normal and for reasons that everyone knows there's been too much going on here that's not normal and we're very pleased this is happening.
"A festival of this size and not just one year, but we hope something like this can develop and keep going on for many years, gives you a reputation. People come here and a lot flows from it. We talk about this being a British export, but the capacity to host an event like this is a Serbian export because it's exporting Serbia's organisational potential, it's exporting Belgrade as a place people enjoy coming to and having a good time and it's exporting a positive image of Serbia. Now I hope the authorities here are going to see the value of this.
"There is a bit of a problem here, frankly, and you see it in lots of areas, of people somehow giving the impression that if other people are being successful they want to stop them. They don't see that if other people are successful it helps create a context in which success leads to more success for everybody.
"If Belgrade has more money coming in because of festivals like this, it'll be much better placed to deal with horrendous environmental problems in this city such as the rubbish dump, the pollution and all sorts of other things that are going on which are far more damaging to Belgrade and the region than this festival conceivably could be."
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DAVID WEBB, Trade Attache:
"You know, I'm sure some of the protests were well-intentioned. People care about the environment -- we care about the environment -- which is why we had to make the point that the people the festival organisers have brought in to ensure the ecology of the island isn't spoilt in any way are reputable people and we're happy with their opinion.
"The fact is that if you get a good festival with nice people enjoying themselves and having a good time, there's nothing to beat it, that kind of collective experience -- 10s of thousands of people all working on having a good time and just chilling out and that's what will make this festival and that's why I think the location is so important.
"Unless you've been to a big British festival, then you've not been to anything quite like this. Just go spend a few days just be yourself, be a bit free, enjoy yourself, it'll be great. We'll see you there, cheers."
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8:23BKS Iyengarby RaoulDjukanovic3,818 views
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