December 12, 2018 - The concept and content of the Human Rights Film Festival "Ubrzaj (Accelerate) 2018", in the most concrete way, opens current issues in the field of human rights, which can further enhance the responsibility of the society, but also to awaken the often dormant conscience of the individual, said Minister of Culture Aleksandar Bogdanovic at the opening of the festival that will last until December 14th.
As announced by the Ministry of Culture, during the event there will be films organized by the Center for Civic Education, with the support of the Government and the EU Delegation to Montenegro.
"It is especially important that this festival focuses on the film form, because, in addition to the fact that such topics can be most problematic, the receptivity of cinema enables a wider audience to be able to act further. This is particularly important in societies like ours, in which much more must be done to change consciousness, taking into account that legal regulations are in line with the standards of those most emancipated societies," Bogdanovic said.
This year's festival, the ninth in a row, was opened with the screening of the film "Eighth Commissioner" by director Ivan Salaja. This is the first and only festival of its kind in Montenegro, which actively contributes to raising the awareness of citizens about the importance of human rights and their protection, through the film, as an artistic expression. Speaking about the significance of the Festival, the minister pointed out that the festival "Ubrzaj" offers a wide range of topics dealing with violated rights and freedoms.
"Today's activities for the defense of the human rights and freedoms must be equally focused both on the problem of past ideas and ideologies, as well as on the recent extreme ambitions of monitoring and controlling people's lives. Only in this way we can step into the future in which the freedom of the individual will not be one of the burning issues. For Montenegro and the environment "Ubrzaj" festival is becoming an increasingly important manifestation, by which awareness of the unquestionable human rights and freedoms can be raised to a higher level," said Bogdanović.
As he added, in addition to the fact that the contemporary world is again confronted with the fear of the other and the different, this initiator of every attack on human rights and freedoms, in the accelerated progress has also brought new phenomena that could endanger the individual's freedom by jeopardizing his privacy.
"Today, when in the digital world this privacy becomes more visible and accessible to various abuses, it is necessary to constantly keep warning to the risk of the emergence of some new forms of the disorder, whose repression is often overwhelmed with the seductive and seemingly harmless content of the virtual world," concluded Bogdanović.
Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Montenegro Aivo Orav emphasized that this year the European Union is the proud donor of "Ubrzaj" festival as part of a larger project 360° Full circle for the human rights, which aims to contribute to reducing discrimination and promoting tolerance and respect for human rights in Montenegro.
"Films enable us to provide people with new perspectives and points of view, as well as to reinforce the audience's knowledge that personal dedication can produce a lasting and significant impact on society," Orav said.
Executive Director of the Center for Civic Education Daliborka Uljarevic reminded that today is the International Human Rights Day and proudly announced that the IX Festival "Ubrzaj" has become a member of the Human Rights Network with its head office in Amsterdam, which gathers 41 film festival of human rights from all over the world, which represents a significant international recognition. She also announced this year's laureates for the promotion of human rights and civic activism in the category NGO Center for Women's Rights and Association Spektra, as well as Sabina Talović in the category of the individuals. In the selection of the Festival for 2018, there were 15 performances from Montenegro, and the motto of this year's festival is "Watch and Remember."
Text by CdM, on December 10th, 2018, read more at CdM
