The FAST FORWARD Human Rights Film Festival Montenegro 2025 also received an excellent audience response in Berane. A full hall of the Cultural Centre had the opportunity to watch The Voice of Hind Rajab by director Kaouther Ben Hania, which provoked strong emotions among viewers.
Mira Paunović, Vice President of the Municipality of Berane, addressed the audience on behalf of the municipality, which supports the FAST FORWARD Festival in the city. She emphasised the festival’s noble and humane mission. “The topic of human rights and their protection is inexhaustible, yet the essence of this festival is to place focus precisely on that, especially on situations involving gross violations of fundamental human rights. Every person must nurture empathy, a sense of solidarity with the suffering and hardship of others, regardless of who they are, where they come from, or which God they pray to,” she said during the opening of the Berane edition of FAST FORWARD.
“FAST FORWARD festival is important because through film we reveal what hides behind statistics, reports, and empty phrases. Film does not accept excuses. Film remembers, testifies, and exposes,” a emphasized Nikola Obradović, Programme associate at the CCE.
Today in Berane, three films will be screened: Si e No – Yes and No by Sanja Blečić at the “Panto Mališić” Gymnasium, followed by ‘’2000 Meters to Andreyevka’’ by Ukrainian director Mstyslav Chernov at 18:30 in the Cultural Centre, and ‘’Happiness to All’’ by Czech author Filip Remunda at 20:30.
The repertoire of the Festival’s third day in Podgorica brings three films that, each in its own way, highlight the essence of FASRT FORWARD Festival – an intense, personal, and authentic portrayal of life “in the shadows.”
The first, Happiness to All, by Filip Remunda, offers an intimate cinematic portrait of a Siberian nuclear physicist who has kept video diaries for years. Through his daily routines, isolation, and unusual rituals, the film uncovers unexpected answers to what happiness is and how we find it in environments that are distant and cold – geographically and socially. The screening begins at 17:30.
The documentary art-biography of Ilija Šoškić, Si e no / Yes and No, screening at 19:15, leads us into a reflection on the boundaries of truth and identity. With its distinct visual style and deeply personal approach, the film questions the tension between the documentary and the subjective, opening the question of where reality ends and interpretation begins and whether they can be separated at all.
The screening will be preceded by Šoškić’s performance PPP – Nine Hours Later, a unique photographic cycle created just nine hours after the brutal murder of filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini. This act represents a form of communication with the memory of the event and with the audience, who will have the opportunity to experience his work firsthand. The programme will conclude with a discussion on Šoškić’s connection with Pasolini and Pasolini’s significance in 1970s Italy – politically, artistically, and socially. Director Andro Martinović and art historian Nela Gligorović will provide broader context on the era that shaped both Pasolini and Šoškić, and point to the relevance of their ideas today.
The evening at 20:45 closes with the German-Kenyan film Nawi: Dear Future Me, which guides the audience into the gentle yet powerful world of a young girl fighting for her identity and future in a traditional community. Her story radiates courage, vulnerability, and the universal need of every child to be seen and understood despite societal pressures.
Meanwhile, the Kotor edition of FAST FORWARD officially opens tonight at Cinema Boka at 18:30 with a screening of The Voice of Hind Rajab by Kaouther Ben Hania, while earlier today the Gymnasium Kotor hosted the film Si e No – Yes and No, by Sanja Blečić. The first festival day in Kotor concludes with Completely Different, Exactly the Same by Italian director Marijana Đorđe Marćezini at 20:00 – a film that, through striking visual form and bold authorship, explores human identities, social expectations, and the paradox of simultaneous acceptance and rejection of difference. The film focuses on activist Sabina Talović from Montenegro.
During the day, a matinee discussion on multiculturalism is also being organized at the CCE, providing a space for reflection and dialogue on some of the films presented at FAST FORWARD 2025 in relation to Montenegrin reality.
This year’s edition of the Festival is supported by the Municipality of Kotor, Municipality of Berane, KIC “Budo Tomović”, Montenegrin Cinematheque, Public Institution “Nikola Đurković” Cultural Centre, Berane Cultural Centre, the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights, the Fund for Minorities, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the European Union.
FAST FORWARD Festival partners include the Beldocs International Documentary Film Festival from Belgrade and the Human Rights Film Network (HRFN) based in Amsterdam.
Commitment to social responsibility was evident this year as well in the business sector, with sponsorships from Crown Plaza Podgorica, Metropolis, Companie de Vinos, and PG Taxi.
Media partners of FAST FORWARD 2025 include television stations Nova M, PG TV, TV E, Radio and portal Antena M, daily Pobjeda, portal and daily DAN, Radio D, portal CdM, portal Analitika, Radio Kotor, Radio Berane, Radio Tivat, Radio Titograd, and Radio Elmag, El, Mag and Arena.
All information about the UBRZAJ Festival is available at www.ubrzaj.me.
Nejra Bašić, Project Assistant