Film Festival OBNOVA Novi Sad

This year was the third edition of the OBNOVA Festival. The aim was to highlight the revival of Novi Sad film production and promote this city's cinematic achievements on the European cinematography scene. The goal of the Festival is to become a self-sustainable project that will actively contribute to the local cultural scene in Novi Sad and highlight the work of local directors and producers.

The unique cooperation with OBNOVA and Sarajevo Film Festival, supported by FES SOE, was the first of its kind – with hopes of a fruitful continuation. Within this framework, interested participants could attend a "Where is Anne Frank?" screening, also shown earlier in August, during the 28th edition of the Sarajevo Film Festival and as part of the "Dealing with the past program." "Where is Anne Frank? "was shown for the first time in Serbia during this Festival. Anne Frank dedicated her diary to an imaginary friend named Kitty. Israeli director Ari Folman brings Kitty to life in this animated movie, telling her story. In search of her best friend Anne Frank, Kitty becomes a witness to the last months of life of the Frank family during the holocaust and post-World War II Europe.

The screening was followed by a panel discussion titled "Film as a bridge between past and present "and a conversation with the film director, Ari Folman. The panel discussion itself featured inputs from Mirko Štark, associate professor at the Academy of Art, University of Novi Sad, Milan Inić, YouTube creator from channel Yasserstein, who brought the topic closer to younger audiences, as well as inputs from dr. Ralf Melzer, director of the FES Dialogue SOE.  

FES SOE continues its commitment to finding avenues for dialogue on challenging topics - and art, including that of cinema, has proven to be one of the most useful. With this cooperation, we conclude our fruitful festival season - at least for the summer!