“Our commitment must be to remember the victims who perished, respect the survivors still with us, and reaffirm humanity's common aspiration for mutual understanding and justice.”
-- Declaration of the Stockholm International Forum on the Holocaust
7th Annual Zagreb Jewish Film Festival
03.06.2013
The 7th Annual Zagreb Jewish Film Festival, focused on the theme “Festival of Tolerance,” took place from 19-25 May 2013.
All 57 feature, short films, and documentaries presented at this year's Jewish Film Festival were chosen because of the common goal to promote respect for diversity and to stress and defend social action, supporting the Festival's main topic of tolerance. The Festival embraced various other activities as well, including meetings with world-renowned film makers, international talent (film) workshop, exhibitions and educational mornings, and for the first time, literary evenings.
Educational mornings are one of the most important segments of the Festival, aimed at young people. Since 2009 they have attracted over 5,500 pupils and students from many elementary, high schools, and universities. The educational morning program receives a recommendation of the Ministry of Science, Education and Sport every year, as well as the logistical support of the Education and Teacher Training Agency. Through the introduction of film as a platform for educating about the Holocaust, and by choosing feature or documentary films of high artistic and educational value for each new festival edition, young people are given an opportunity to expand their knowledge about the Holocaust through a medium to which they can relate. This also opens up a platform for discussion which, after lectures, motivates students and pupils to think and to gain completely different perspectives of an issue on which they may not have deep knowledge.
During the educational mornings program, Mirko Ilić, author of the Festival’s visual design, held the lecture Symbols of Hate. He also presented the Anti-Masonic Posters exhibition, which comprises 17 original posters and 3 replicas printed in their original dimensions from 1941, when they were created as a part of the Nazi anti-Jewish propaganda in Belgrade. The exhibition was supported by the Embassy of the United States of America, the AIC Foundation Inc., and the Croatian Ministry of Culture, and will move to Rijeka (Mali salon) on 3 June and stay open until 9 June.
Some parts of the Festival program will also be shown at the Rijeka Art-kino Croatia from 7 to 9 June.
More information about the Festival is available on its website: http://www.jff-zagreb.hr/newsl/2/en/home.