THE MOVIE GINGER - MORE THAN A GAME
PRESENTED ON EUROBASKET IN LITHUANIA
Although on Wednesday, September 14th, our national team didn’t play the game, Serbia attracted a lot of attention of numerous journalists and basketball officials.
The reason for that was the special screening of documentary-featured film Ginger- more than a game, presented in Kaunas Arena, by the producer and screenwriter Gordan Matić.
Many people didn’t want to miss the chance to see the movie about the legendary basketball player, whose name is written by golden letters in the history of European and World basketball, before the cinema premiere in Belgrade scheduled for the beginning of October.
On the special projection, among others, there were Olafur Rafnsson, the president of FIBA Europe, the highest officials of the Basketball Federation of Serbia, the president Dragan Đilas, vice-president Dejan Bodiroga and Vuk Mitrović, coach Dušan Ivković and general secretary Andrija Kleut, but also our people from FIBA, Zoran Radović and Predrag Bogosavljev and PR director of Basketball Federation of France Goran Radonjić… After the screening, some big basketball legends didn’t even try to cover the tears and emotions.
On the press conference that came after, besides the members of the film crew, producer and screenwriter Gordan Matić, producer Marko Paljić and actors Tamara Krcunović and Vladimir Aleksić, who plays Korać in the movie, Olafur Rafnsson and selector of our team Dušan Duda Ivković also had the word. Rafnson said that the screening was an “emotional experience, a great story about the basketball diamante”
Duda Ivković spoke about the movie and about Korać, even with more emotions:
“I don’t want to put myself in the focus of attention, I’m shaken, we were great friends. People were different back then, related to each others. They were avant-guard. Korać wasn’t just basketball legend, he was the person of wide spread interests. Starting with theatres, music records, studies of electrical engineering… I was junior in 1961 when our basketball players won the first medal on European Championship in Belgrade…20 000 people were cheering in the Fair hall… Nobody believed in what Đerđa said in the movie, that from 16 teams we are going to be the second on European Championship. Now, it is 50 years from the first medal. The movie won’t let that Ginger and one marvelous generation be forgotten. ”
Dejan Bodiroga was also enthusiastic about the movie:
“What can we expect from the future if we let this kind of legends fall into oblivion. The movie forbids that. I am proud to be a part of the legacy of that first champion generation of Yugoslav basketball. Warm, great movie that evokes strong emotions”.
Numerous interviews with the members of film crew after the conference confirmed positive reactions to the movie and big media attention, first of all from the Region but also from Lithuania, Italy, Spain and France. Everybody agreed unanimously about one thing – The story about Radivoj Korać, precisely for his fascinating character and emotional side revealed in the movie, will be adored also by those who are not interested in basketball.