Panel discussions in the programme The Future of Freedom
- Frontlines of Freedom: Ukrainian filmmakers capturing history at the heart of the war
“Priča o priči”, Insajder TV, Saturday May 20th, after airing the programme on “20 Days in Mariupol” starting at 17:30h. Replay on the same day at 24:00h.
It’s been more than a year since Russia invaded Ukraine, drastically escalating a conflict that had already been in progress for eight years into the biggest land war in Europe since World War II. While the repercussions continue to reverberate around the world, some of Ukraine’s most talented filmmakers are on the frontlines of the war, using their cameras (and sometimes guns as well) to fight the Russian invasion and capture the country’s fight for freedom. The authors of three documentaries, „20 Days in Mariupol“, „Mariupolis 2“ and „When Spring Came to Bucha“ are fearless, frontline witnesses to history, capturing images of the escalating horrors, individual suffering and tragedy, but also human resilience while life is put on hold and glimpses of hope and humanity amid the devastation. What is the challenge of maintaining filmmaker’s integrity when you have a personal and emotional stake in the story? Does a documentary have a power to transform the way we understand and connect with the world and its most painful developments despite the weaponizing effects of misinformation and propaganda?
- The Future of Freedom: Confronting the rise of digital authoritarianism
Discussion in partnership with SHARE Foundation in the framework of the conference Digital/Green/Society. KC Grad, Monday May 15th, at 14:00h.
With an unprecedented access to the protagonists and their families fighting for justice amidst a spider web of the surveillance state in China, the documentary „Total Trust“ is a disturbing tale of technology and abuse of power in the 21st century. The film immerses us into a wide-ranging picture of consequences that are already changing social behaviours, and doesn’t just address the potential danger of big data, biometrics and voice recognition technology in the hands of unchecked power and corporations, but also of the silent threat of self-censorship and the increasingly sophisticated brainwashing as the result of the tightening state control. When governments around the world are increasingly using data to monitor their own citizens and the global internet freedom has been declining for the 12th consecutive year (along with the rise of the „splinternet“, or Balkanized internet) – how are peple and civil society organizations fighting back against the multi-pronged assault on the privacy and human rights? How can collaborative efforts to improve legislation, develop media resilience, and ensure accountability among technology companies improve the state of (digital) freedom and offer models for further progress on other problems like commercial spyware?
- Identities and Freedom: Advancing towards an equal, inclusive and more understanding environment
“Priča o priči”, Insajder TV, Tuesday May 16th, after airing the film “Who I Am Not” starting at 23:30h. Replay on May 17th at 12:00h.
The increasing visibility of the various attacks on women’s and LGBTQI rights in recent years has been accompanyinhg the gender backlash in Serbia and the world in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. While the global phenomenon of anti-gender movements requires a deeper understanding within the context of the general decline in freedom and democratic values around the world, the intersection of various conservative influences is increasingly shaping our mainstream discourse. “Who I Am Not” is an uplifting and taboo-breaking documentary which offers painful yet hopeful and heartfelt celebration of intersex life in a binary world: the subject that is rarely broached on screen, despite the fact that approximately two percent of the world’s population is born as intersex. Education about the existence of Intersex persons and the right to self-determination regarding one’s anatomy seem to be the key to the better understanding and acceptance of intersex community, and what about the rest of LGBTQI community that rejects a heteronormative existence in favor of freedom and being true to who you are?
