Official selection: Competition program of Bosifest 2016

The seventh Belgrade International Film Festival for and by People with Disabilities, BOSIFEST was held from 1^st to 3^rd June this year. Besides the films shown at the Belgrade Youth Centre, the additional program consisted of workshops, panel discussions and round tables. From 250 submitted films, 34 films were chosen for the three day repertoire. 

BOSIFEST is an international film festival for and by people with disabilities, the only one of that kind in Southeast Europe, taking place in Serbia for the seventh time. A great number of films will be screened this year too - in the competitive as well as the non-competitive part.

Until now, within BOSIFEST, 300 films dealing with the theme of the people with disabilities or the authors of the films are people with disabilities have been screened. 

Jury of Bosifest 2016 are:

• Srdan Dragojevic,
• Ivan Karl,
• Nebojsa Bradic and
• Vladan Vukosavljevic.

This year, 250 films arrived, which necessarily increased selection criteria and unfortunately not all the quality films could be selected. In the end, for the competition part the most powerful documentary movies were selected , and for the non-competition part: feature, animated and educational films. For both programs we searched for the following: that is relevant to the local audience, that is skillfully directed, that it depicts a film and not television work, and that it gives a new viewpoint on a topic.

It's been almost a year since your visit to Belgrade. What impression you brought with you from here?

I found Belgrade amazing. I'm not sure if this impression was because of the city itself or because of the remarkable experience that I've had there during the festival... I found it to be a modern city but also soaked with history and legacy. The people were so nice to me and the food was so great!

What are your`s impressions from last year`s festival where you get the grand prix? How did you like Belgrade?

The  festival itself is one of the strongest impression. Not only the films that were shown but the fact that the festival like this exists. For me, Darko will always be the person with strong personality, dignified behavior and a very wise attitude towards life.

Volunteers are, as in previous years, an indispensable part of BOSIFEST's. This year we have volunteers from different faculties, they are involved in the organization from the very beginning and daily contribute their effort and commitment to the successful implementation of the festival.
The aim of engaging volunteers is to get young people informed about the rights, status and needs of people with disabilities and to work on creating empathy, improving communication, acceptance of diversity and breaking down prejudices about people with disabilities.