A press conference was held today to mark the opening of the 20th, and at the same time final, edition of the Pravo Ljudski Film Festival.

At the press conference, the Pravo Ljudski Film Festival team focused on the decision to conclude the festival with this 20th edition: the key reasons behind this decision, what remains after, why this choice is a political gesture, and why closing the festival at this socio-political moment is important. In addition, the program of the 20th and final edition was presented, including what guided the program team in the selection process.

The conference opened with remarks from Kumjana Novakova, the Creative Director and the programmer of the Pravo Ljudski Film Festival, who has been part of it since its very beginning.

“First of all, I think it is important to note that the 20th edition takes place at the beginning of the third year of genocide, which we witness and follow on the very same devices through which we also consume audiovisual content – the very form of a film festival. This is the context and environment that especially for someone living, working, and acting in Sarajevo and Bosnia and Herzegovina – the country that, until the most recent wars, has been marked by violence that defines us – makes it increasingly difficult to believe in the power of any form of communication that could give meaning to our existence. It is very clear that the methods and forms through which we communicate and call for non-violence have become inadequate, because it is obvious that even from Sarajevo we cannot communicate without creating even greater frustration. In this sense, the Pravo Ljudski Film Festival has decided to abandon the festival form and propose that it is time to rethink new forms, new modes of action, new generations who, we hope, will find more adequate methods and whose work will bring not only more meaning, but also more concrete results and impact.”

Speaking about this year’s program, Karla Crnčević, co-programmer of the festival, noted that in this final edition, looking toward the end of one era and one form, space was given to films created mainly in the Global South, films that communicate the ongoing struggles of people in different parts of the world.

“The program brings together four lines. The first, with which we will open the festival, comes from Yugoslav production of the 1960s and 1970s, and is titled Yugoslavia: Notes for Resistance and Liberation. It will present three films. One of the films is Blood and Tears, directed by Boško Mratinković with cinematographer Stevan Labudović. The film was shot in Palestine in 1968, with production completed in the 1970s. It was distributed, among other channels, by the Palestinian Liberation Movement in solidarity with the anti-colonial Palestinian struggle. The second film is Jafra, which has not been shown in Macedonia for a very long time and was completed in 1978. It is directed by Kiril Cenevski, a well-known Macedonian documentarian, and was made in the style of militant cinema emerging at that time in Latin America and the Arab world. The final film, We Will Win, prepared by Miodrag Zdravković and shot by Dragutin Popović, tells of Mozambique’s liberation struggle. All these films bear witness to a film infrastructure that stood in solidarity with actual political movements. They were not made as artistic works, but as documents of the fight against occupiers and colonizers. With this program, we open the festival precisely to reflect, at this endpoint, on alternative modes of production and distribution that once existed and were possible.”

Over the next four days, more information about other films and programs of the 20th Pravo Ljudski Film Festival will be available through our social media and the website pravoljudski.org.

In the past 20 years, the festival has been woven together by more than 300 collaborators and volunteers from all over the world – and that is what matters most, as the festival could not have existed without people. This was emphasized by Vedad Bezdrob, Executive Director of the Pravo Ljudski Association, who used the occasion to thank all who supported the festival, such as the embassies of Spain and the Netherlands, along with many other partners who stood by the festival over the years.

“When this story began 20 years ago, we probably did not know where it would all lead, but we knew a few things. We knew we wanted a space for film, for freedom of expression, for dialogue – and that we could not do it alone. That is why this edition, beyond everything else it represents, is a thank you. A thank you to all those who, year after year, believed in us and supported us,” said Bezdrob.

He concluded by thanking the devoted audience who gave meaning to everything done through and within the festival, and invited them to join from October 2–5 at Kino Meeting Point to share the moments of the 20th Pravo Ljudski Film Festival together.

More information about the program can be found on their official website and social media platforms Facebook and Instagram.