December 14, 2018 - King Nikola, along with Zetski dom in Cetinje, planned to build a theater in Bar.

Based on the preserved preliminary project, which is located in the Archives and Library Department of the National Museum of Montenegro in special luxurious covers, this should have been one of the most beautiful buildings in Montenegro.

The project was made in 1911 by the Italian architect Professor Adolf Magrini, who was awarded the gold medal at the exhibition in Cetinje.

If the project of the Italian architect was realized, this theater named after the last Montenegrin monarch would probably be the most representative building in Montenegro today.

The project contains six drawings (two drawings of the foundation plan, two super-sections - transferal and longitudinal, and two are the drawings of the back side of the planned building).

The theater was conceived as a classical theater with a large theater consisting of a floor ground seating and a high seating, two floors of box loggia and a gallery. The project envisaged all the spaces needed for a serious theater. Unfortunately, the project has not been realized, but it represents a huge value by itself, and it is a confirmation that King Nikola sought to bring Montenegro closer to modern European countries.

Text by Arts Montenegro, on December 13th, 2018, read more at CdM

13 December 2018 - In Gallery "Josip Bepo Benković" in Herceg Novi on December 13th at 7 PM, 20th Anniversary of the Herceg Novi Art Scene was opened. At the exhibition, in both exhibit space, 60 works of 54 authors can be found, which include paintings, graphics, drawings, sculptures, and installations.

For the third year in the art scene, a large number of exhibitors and authors who are engaged in artistic or professional arts are involved in the art of Herceg Novi. The aim is that the Gallery becomes a place for the gathering of lovers of fine arts.

"With its concept, the art scene wants to motivate a great number of fans of fine arts-creators, to be lead by top-notch and accomplished authors, and themselves to be part of the city's artistic being. In addition to the 20th Anniversary of the Herceg Novi Art Scene, a catalog was prepared, written by the art historian Jasmina Žitnik," as announced at the opening of this event.

The Herceg Novi Art Scene will last until the beginning of February 2019 as an introduction to the 52nd Herceg Novi Winter Salon.

The art scene in Herceg Novi got full swing when it gathered not only academic artists but all people who create and live in Herceg Novi. In recent years, the exhibition has seen an upgrade, while many professional artists and those who have an artistic expression as the hobby have helped set it all up.

This number of participants is indeed an indicator of the performance of the Herceg Novi artistic scene.

December 13, 2019 - Ministers of the Western Balkan countries and members of the Energy Community, during a meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Energy Community in Skopje, adopted a document on the goals for 2030 concerning the harmonization of climate and energy plans. Member States have supported the alignment of their ambitions with those of the European Union, i.e., to follow the aspirations of the European Union regarding energy and climate plans when determining its own goals for 2030 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase energy efficiency and share energy from renewable sources.

Although it's striving for EU membership, the governments of the six Western Balkan countries have lagged behind the plans and ambitions of the Union in adopting and implementing its regulations. While the EU is preparing for the imminent decarbonization, most governments in the region are still planning to develop and build new coal-fired power plants, despite the enormous potential for energy savings.

However, not everything is so gloomy. The European financial institutions abandoned coal, and the World Bank did the same, so two months ago it denied funding for the construction of a new thermal power plant in Kosovo. This decision does not come from environmental initiatives but economic ones - their policy is to finance the most cost-effective projects, and renewable energy sources are merely now cheaper than coal.

What is essential now for the governments of the region is setting ambitious goals and acting by them. These actions will show us whether our governments are aware of the enormous opportunities to develop through the inevitable energy transition or will this effort be interpreted only as an EU request.

Civil society organizations across the region have long been warning the public not only of the lack of climatic ambitions of their governments and old plans for energy systems but also of a series of violations of domestic and international laws and directives in the development of the energy systems.

World scientists have suggested that the effects of climate change are far faster and more devastating than anticipated. To keep global temperature growth at 1.5 degrees, UNEP (United Nations Environment Program) released a report calling on all countries to increase their ambitions five times. Thanks to the Energy Community, the Western Balkans has come up with concrete changes to reduce the impact on climate change with more awareness to the urgency of the necessary action.

Text by CdM, on December 12th, 2018, read more at CdM

December 13, 2018 - The third edition of the Podgorica Film Festival officially ended on Sunday, December 9^th, at the Cultural and Information Center "Budo Tomovic." During the five festival days, the audience had the opportunity to enjoy 26 films, of which 16 premiered in Montenegro. The festival featured films that received numerous awards and were featured at the most important festivals that the Montenegrin audience did not have the opportunity to see on the regular cinema repertoire.

On the last festival day, the Montenegrin premiere featured a short feature film "Put", by young director Senad Šahmanović. The festival closed with the films "Comic Sans" by Nevia Marasovic and "Did you see my film" by Paul Anton Smith.

For the first time this year, the audience was able to evaluate the films in the selection of the Podgorica Film Festival.

The Japanese film "Thieves" by director Hirokazu Korede received the highest rating of the audience. This emotional drama won the Golden Palm at the renowned Cannes Festival. The film follows Osama and his family, who, after one of their petty thefts, encountered an abandoned, frozen little girl. At the beginning, reluctant to protect the girl, Osamu's wife agrees to take care of her when she finds out what kind of problems she is facing. Although poor and petty thefts barely provide survival, they look like a happy family, while an unforeseen incident does not reveal their secrets, putting on a test the connection that keeps them together. Japanese movie "Thieves" makes us think about what the family is really like.

 The film was very well received by the Podgorica audience who rated it with an average score of 4.92. 

The second place according to the votes of the audience went to the Croatian film "Comic Sans" with an average score of 4.70. At the Pula Film Festival "Comic Sans" won the Golden Gate Audience Award, and at the International Films Festival FEST in Belgrade it received the Jury of Film Critics Award "Nebojsa Djukelić" for best film in the region.

The Danish Oscar nominee, Gustav Meller's film "Guilty", came in third with an average score of 4.62. Moller's tense thriller was shown at the opening of the Podgorica Film Festival. He won public awards at the Sundance and Rotterdam festivals.

Great interest of the audience was triggered by the Montenegrin and Bosnian-Herzegovinian co-production, film "Borders, Rain" by Vlastimir Sudar and Nikola Mijovic. Mijovic's and Sudare's story of love, maturity, and hope got a score of 4.55. In addition to the film, Sudar presented himself to the Podgorica audience as the author of the book "Portrait of the Artist as a Political Dissident - Life and Work of Aleksandar Petrović" within the accompanying program of the Festival. In fifth place, with a score of 4.48, was "Foxtrot" by Samuel Maoza. At the prestigious Film Festival in Venice, it was awarded the Silver Lion. In addition to the main program, the audience also enjoyed the films of Turkish director Semih Kaplanoglu, whose retrospective was organized in cooperation with the Yunus Emre Institute. Within the accompanying program of the festival, panels and workshops were organized.

At the opening ceremony, the Montenegrin Cinematheque awarded the film "Kino-oko", and the famous Serbian director and former professor at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Cetinje, Miloš Miša Radivojević.

The festival was organized by NGO Podgorica Film Festival and the Montenegrin Cinematheque. The Ministry of Culture supported the festival, the Ministry of Tourism and the Secretariat for Culture and Sport of the Capital of Podgorica. Partners of Podgorica film festival are KIC "Budo Tomovic," Yunus Emre Institute, Film Center of Montenegro and MEDIA Desk of Creative Europe.

Text by CdM, on December 12th, 2018, read more at CdM

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

December 12, 2018 - Montenegro and Hungary have very close political cooperation, which is an excellent basis for further developing intensive cooperation on the economic and cultural level, it was concluded today at the meeting of the mayor of Podgorica, Dr. Ivan Vuković, and the ambassador of Hungary, Jozsef Negyesi.

The Mayor assessed that Montenegro has always had the support of Hungary, especially during the NATO accession period, and expressed its gratitude for the country's loudest advocate for joining the Western Balkan countries to the European Union.

Ambassador Negyesi invited the Mayor to visit Budapest, which he welcomed with pleasure, noting that he lived in that city during his doctoral studies and was always happy to return. "

Although this is a city with a different number in population, I believe that Podgorica can make much use of Budapest's experiences, especially when it comes to the revitalization of the city center, but also experiences in the area of waste management and the improvement of public transport," the mayor said. 

He assessed that a direct airline between Podgorica and Budapest, which has existed for over ten years, is of great importance for communication and cooperation between the two cities and two countries, and that it has allowed the increase of the number of tourists from Hungary by about 30 percent in the last year.

Hungary is the second largest country per the number of foreign direct investments in Montenegro this year, and this investment potential needs to be further exploited, he said, announcing that the capital will soon present prepared investment packages. 

"The capital will make an effort to create a favorable environment for investors, and in that sense, I expect the arrival of a number of Hungarian companies. When it comes to cultural cooperation, it was very lively in the previous period, and I expect that this will continue in the future," the mayor said.

Ambassador Negyesi announced a large number of cultural events next year, organized by the Embassy of Hungary, to be held in Podgorica, and in other Montenegrin cities.

Text by S.Đ., on December 11th 2018, read more at CdM

December 11, 2018 - In addition to the New Year's and Christmas holidays, Montenegrin towns have received new outfits. CdM already wrote how the capital is decorated, and under the ornament and lights, the central streets of Mojkovac, Bijelo Polje, Andrijevica, Kotor and Tivat are now also fully shining.

The decorative New Year's lighting in Bijelo Polje turned on two days ago. New Year's ornaments were set up ten days ago, and besides the town square, streets around the ocenter were also decorated.

Bijelo Polje (Photo: W production)

The municipality announced that all the lighting would be fully functional in the next few days.

This year, Mojkovac is also ahead with the New Year's decorations and is ready to welcome 2019. At the central city square, there is a Christmas tree, and the citizens of Mojkovac will enjoy a beautifully decorated town during the upcoming festive days.

Mojkovac (Photo: MNE 365

)

Mojkovac (Photo: Boris Ćetković)

The old town in Kotor is beautifully decorated every year. Tourists are thrilled, and they are happy to publish tphotos on social networks.

Kotor

Kotor

Kotor

Festive lighting is also set up in Andrijevica, and this town will surely be among the best decorated in Montenegro. The lit up trees and light bulbs illuminate the square near the municipality building, and the locals are delighted with the new look of their town.

Andrijevica

Andrijevica

A festive atmosphere can also bw felt in Tivat. Particular emphasis, when holiday decorations are concerned, is placed on the town’s promenade Pine, because the New Year's Eve events will be organized right in this part of the city.

Photo: Radio Tivat

The youngest will enjoy the designed lighting installation of sleds pulled by two reindeers, which this year, instead of in the small park in the center of the town, are placed on Pine together with Santa Claus that are embellishing this part of the city.

Photo: Radio Tivat

The palm trees will be decorated with luminous rings, bows and hanging Christmas balls on the promenade. Radio Tivat reports that on the part of the promenade, which is popularly called "gumno", an illuminated Christmas tree of six meters will be installed, and a unique decoration is planned on the promenade from the pharmacy to the hotel Palma.

Photo: Radio Tivat

Christmas trees will decorate the space in front of the building of the "old municipality," as well as at the Magnolia Square, where they plan to place light cables around magnolia trees.

Text by S.B. , on December 10th 2018, read more at CdM