On the occasion of the 91st anniversary of the assassination in Marseille and with a desire to keep the memory of his grandfather, HM King Alexander I, HRH Crown Prince Alexander hosted yesterday the screening of the documentary film “By Far Kajmakcalan”, by authors Boris Trbić and Dragan Gavrilović, according to the idea and book of the historian Bojan Pajić, in the cinema of the Royal Palace in Belgrade.
The film screening was dedicated to the Knightly King, who was the Supreme Commander of the Kingdom of Serbia’s Army in the Great War, and until the end of his life deeply connected to his brothers and sisters in arms, those with whom he shared the same destiny, struggles and temptations, and with whom he brought victory and freedom to Serbia.
“It is with deep respect and emotion that we honour the heroes of the Great War, whose courage and sacrifice at Kajmakčalan and on many other battlefields secured the freedom of our people. They were led by my grandfather, HM King Alexander I, who shared the hardships and victories with his soldiers, leading by example and embodying the unity and strength of our people. Many of the people about whom this film is about, the Knightly King, met in person.
Until his tragic death, which we remember today, he was unbreakably connected to his war comrades, eternally grateful to them. Their joint legacy reminds us that love for one’s homeland, duty, and perseverance are timeless values that keep on living even today. Memories like this must be kept, in honour of our ancestors, and as a legacy for our descendants, as we are all parts of one unbreakable line, which stretches far back into the ancient days of our history”, stated HRH Crown Prince Alexander.
This film is a story about chance and persistence, about fate and the alliance of people in the fight for a better world, but also about diaspora and patriotism. It is a historical-artistic testimony about the joint struggle, told precisely in the words of the descendants of soldiers and medical personnel of ANZAC, and with an abundance of exclusive archival material and the interpretation of experts.
The screening was also attended by TRH Crown Princess Katherine, Hereditary Prince Philip, and Princess Danica, as well as Their Excellencies Ambassadors of the Kingdom of Spain Mr. Juan Jose Sanz Aparicio, Argentina Mr. Osvaldo Narciso Marsico, Montenegro Mr. Nebojša Đoković, Switzerland Mrs. Anne Elisabeth Lugon-Moulin, and other representatives of the diplomatic corps, members of the Advisory Bodies of the Crown, and members of the Managing Board of HRH Crown Prince Alexander’s Foundation for Education and Culture.
Filmed in Serbia, Australia, Greece and North Macedonia, the film follows the research of Australian historian of Serbian origin, Bojan Pajic, about more than 1,500 Australians and New Zealanders, mostly women, who served side by side with the Serbian army in the First World War. Pajić, accompanied by a group of descendants of Australian veterans, travels through Australia, Serbia and beyond, to the Thessaloniki front, investigating the little-known alliance of Australians and Serbs, the motives and unusual fates of the main actors. In the film, eminent Australian and Serbian historians of World War I speak, and the descendants of the veterans evoke memories of the participants in the war and read parts from
