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Branko Stanković barred from filming “Circle Squared” at Župa museum
🇷🇸 Serbia /Culture & Society

Branko Stanković barred from filming “Circle Squared” at Župa museum

From N1 Serbia · () Serbian

Translated from Serbian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • The director of the Župa Heritage Museum denied Branko Stanković permission to film an episode of “Circle Squared” inside the museum.
  • Stanković said he submitted the requested filming plan and personal details but was still refused after the director consulted a higher authority.
  • The crew filmed replicas of the museum’s ancient Župa figurines elsewhere, while local reporting highlighted Stanković’s previous work promoting the region.

Branko Stanković arrived in Župa Aleksandrovačka to film the region's winemaking history for “Circle Squared,” but the local heritage museum would not let his crew record inside. The program, broadcast on TV N1 since October, was filming in Serbia's largest winegrowing and wine-producing region, where grape cultivation dates back more than 3,000 years.

The director asked the program's author for a filming plan and concept, which he was given, but after consulting someone at a higher level, the director asked for them to be sent from an official email.

— Branko StankovićStanković described the museum's requests before permission was denied.

Stanković had notified the museum's senior curator and former director, Ivan Brborić, ten days before his visit. He also sent questions three days ahead of time. Brborić informed the museum's new director, Terzić, five hours before the crew was due to arrive.

According to Stanković, the director requested a filming plan and program concept. The author supplied them, first through Viber because he could not send an official TV N1 email from the location. Even after he provided the requested information and his personal details, the director refused permission following consultations with what Stanković called a “higher authority.” When Stanković asked for that person's name and telephone number so he could explain the crew's intentions, Terzić replied, “That is not how it works.”

That is not how it works.

— TerzićThe museum director responded when Stanković asked to contact the higher authority involved in the decision.

The crew nevertheless filmed replicas of the Župa figurines, ancient fertility deities kept at the museum. Stanković said N1 viewers would still see those objects as evidence of the region's long history of settlement. Local reporting also recalled that he had made 19 programs about Župa and had received the museum's top award, the Miloslav Bondžić distinction, as well as an Aleksandrovac city plaque for promoting the area. A local chivalric wine order had named him an honorary knight of wine, and he launched his book “Circle Squared” in Župa before promoting it in Belgrade and other cities.

We still managed to film replicas of the Župa figurines, so N1 viewers will not be deprived of that millennia-old confirmation of life in Župa.

— Branko StankovićStanković said the crew found a way to include the museum's ancient figurines in the program.
About this summary

Originally published by N1 Serbia in Serbian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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