The Festival of Tolerance, ahead of its this year’s 15th anniversary edition, gathered friends of the festival at Velvet gallery café. This year the Festival takes place 1-10 July at Zagreb’s Bundek lake and visitors will have a chance to see a number of film titles, such as the Oscar-nominated Quo vadis, Aida?, Here We Move Here We Groove, Escape to Victory, Hidden Childhood: Vesna’s Story, The Pack, A Black Jesus and many other.
“We are also preparing three exhibitions that will motivate visitors to think about tolerance and how far we are ready to go in advocating it. With the In Focus exhibition, the Festival of Tolerance is continuing the practice of independent exhibition production, with a focus on the issue of refugees, migrants and asylum seekers in Croatian society. The second exhibition is a video installation under the title Us., carried out by Sekvenca production company and directed by one of the finest up-and-coming Croatian directors, Jure Pavlović. The aim is to raise awareness about the issue of refugees by reminding the public that such a situation can happen to anyone and that refugees need to be treated the same way we treat ourselves. The exhibition and performance to the subject of refugees are prepared in association with UNHCR Croatia. The third outing into non-cinematic visual arts of the 15th Festival of Tolerance is a photographic exhibition Because I’m Here by the award-winning Austrian photographer Christopher Mavrič, prepared in association with the Austrian Cultural Forum. This is an exhibition of portraits of persons with disabilities with which Mavrič warns us that the time has come to reconsider the quality of life in old age.”
“The film programme of the 15th Festival of Tolerance in a way started to take form last year, when we discovered the great potential of Bundek for film-related events. Around fifty films from all over the world were selected in line with our mission which could be best described as promoting democratic society, tolerance and human rights. The films will all be Croatian premieres, screened and honoured at the most important international festivals. Our audience can look forward to a series of entertaining and intelligent films, as well as several intriguing exhibitions and attractive concerts. The point is: there is no ‘but’ when the 15th Festival of Tolerance is concerned!” said Hrvoje Pukšec, the Festival’s programme director.
“This year’s edition faced us with new challenges, but we are certain that the 15th Festival of Tolerance will be the biggest ever. What has been important all these years, promoting tolerance, solidarity and peace, will remain our goal in the future as well. Uncompromising advocacy of positive social changes. See you at the 15th Festival of Tolerance!” said Nataša Popović, the Festival director.
The pre-festival hangout was a must for many people from the social and cultural scene like Judita Franković, Mila Elegović, Marko Petrić, Dado Ćosić, Tihana Harapin Zalepugin, Loredana Bahorić, Kristina Krepela and many others.
The events are free of charge, as always, and the programme is co-funded by the City of Zagreb, Croatian Audiovisual Centre, UNHCR Croatia and other partners.
