RALPH FIENNES TO OPEN FEST 2009

The 37th FEST will be opened by the famous British actor Ralph Fiennes on Friday, February 20th at 19h in Sava Center.

After the ceremonial opening, the first film on the program of the 37th FEST shall be "the Reader", starring Ralph Fiennes, Jeanette Hain,

David Kross and Kate Winslet, who was awarded the Golden Globe for her role, as well as the Award of the Chicago Film Critics Association. The Director is Steven Daldry (Billy Elition, Hours…) and the film is based on the same-named novel by Bernard Schlink.
Mr Fiennes shall arrive in Belgrade on February 19th and he the same evening he will be received by the Belgrade Mayor Dragan Djilas. The following day Mr. Fiennes will be the guest of the first regular press conference in Sava Center.

The famous actor will thus join the prestigious list of renown international authors or actors who have been in the recent years the guests of Belgrade, opening FEST: Wim Wenders,Catherine Deneuve, Hanna Schygulla, Abbas Kiarostami, Bob Rafelson and Volker Schlondorff, as well as famous guests on 37th FEST: directors Jerzy Skolimowski, Philippe Grandrieux, Karen Shakhnazarov, and actors David Thornton, Ken Foree, Anne Benoit, Dominique Blanc, Fernanda Machado, as well as authors and actors from the region and the director and protagonists of the five Serbian premieres in various programs of this year's Festival and those of the competition program "Europe out of Europe", the B2B project and the thematic round table of the 37th FEST entitled "Woman Directors of Southeast Europe", the initiator is the Director Slobodan Sijan and the moderators Ron Halloway, Dina Jordanova and Bernd Buder!

Ralph Fiennes was born in England on December 22nd, 1962. He is one of the six children of Jennifer Lash, a writer and father Mark, cameraman and scriptwriter. His sister Martha is a Film Director, other sister Sophie a Producer and brother Joseph a well-known actor.

In his acting career, Ralph Fiennes has, since 1990, played 58 significant roles on film and television. Among the most important ones are the ones in Spielberg's Schindler's List, Robert Redford's Quiz Shof, Kathryin Bigelow's Strange Days, Anthony Mingela's English Patient, Istvan Sabo's Sun, Martha Fiennes Onegin, Nil Jordan's End of the Affair, Cronenberg's Spider, Fernando Meireles' Constant Gardener, Ivory's White Countess, Bob Balaban's Harry Potter, Bernard and Doris, and in 2008 only he has shot three new roles in new films – The Duchess, The Hurt Locker and The Reader.

In his illustrious career, Fiennes has been extended many important awards, including:

- The BAFTA Award in 1994, for his role in Schindler's List, and he was nominated for the same award again three times (English Patient, End of the Affair, the Constant Gardener);
- For the same role he was extended the Award of the Critic;
- The European Film Award in 1999 for the role in Sabo's Sun;
-Two Oscar nominations and as much as four Golden Globe nominations…