24 Apr Media statement – “Mirëdita, dobar dan!“ festival in Belgrade 2017

“Mirëdita, dobar dan!“ Festival, which will be organized from May 31st to June 3rd, introduces Belgrade public to the cultural and social scene of Kosovo. For the fourth time, Belgrade public will have a chance to attend the festival which will present the new cultural scene of Kosovo. The idea is to initiate the exchange of art ideas and create a tradition of cooperation in a unique cultural surrounding through a series of encounters of cultural and social communities of Serbia and Kosovo. In that way, they will contribute to the permanent normalisation of relations between Belgrade and Prishtina.

Visitors will be able to find out more about the cultural scene of Kosovo through theatre performances, movies, concerts, exhibitions and book promotions. Apart from that, part of the festival is going to be dedicated to debates on different topics which are important for both communities.

The official opening of the “Miredita dobar dan” festival is going to be organized in Belgrade Youth Center on May 31^st by screening of the “Shok” (Friend) movie directed by Jamie Donoughue who was nominated for the prestigious Oscar award fot the best short movie in 2015. Also,  visitors will enjoy the exhibition and the dance performance “Revolt against violence” by Fitore Berisha. The second day of the festival, 1st of June, will start with a debate named “Cultural exchange between Kosovo and Serbia” followed by the movie Zonjusha (Lady) directed by Genc Berisha.

On Friday, June 2^nd there is going to be a jazz concert “Visar Kuçi Trio” and  the promotion of the book named “I want to be heard: memory book with stories of women survivors of torture during the last war in Kosovo” published by Integra and forumZFD from Kosovo.

“Mirëdita, dobar dan!”, on the last day of festival is organizing a promotion of  Petrit Imami’s book “Serbs and Albanians Through Centuries” in cooperation with Samizdat B92 the publishing house. After that is screening of the movie “Albanian Women Are Our Sisters” produced by BIRN Kosovo, forumZFD Belgrade and Independent Journalists Association of Vojvodina followed by theater play “A Play with Four Actors and Some Pigs and Some Cows and Some Horses and a Prime Minister and a Milka Cow and Some Local and International Inspectors” directed by Blerta Neziraj. Festival is going to be closed with music performance “Tandem” by Oda Haliti and Blerta Kosova.

Festival is going to be organized from May 31st to June 3rd in several locations in Belgrade and the entrance to all events will be, like in the previous years, free. For more information about the festival, please follow the website www.mireditadobardan.com and FB page.

Bekim Fehmiu, Albanian, Kosovo, Belgrade, Yugoslav and a world actor represents a symbol of joint past, with all of its challenges, achievements and misunderstandings, is an inspiration for the establishment and realization of the festival.

Festival is organized by Youth Initiative for Human Rights (Serbia), Integra (Kosovo), Civic Initiatives (Serbia) in partnership with Kosovo Foundation for Open Society (KFOS), and supported by Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Charles Stewart MOTT Foundation, Swiss Embassy Prishtina, Ministry of Culture in Kosovo and Belgrade Youth Center.