Media Freedom

FNF supported short film “Istina” nominated for student Oscars

The short film “Istina”, which was supported by Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, has been nominated for the 50th Student Academy Awards/Student Oscars®. The film tells the story of a photojournalist from Belgrade who is threatened by right-wing extremist thugs and flees to Germany with her daughter. For the young film team around director Tamara Denić and producer Christian Siée, this is a dream come true.

Freedom of the press and freedom of expression are under massive pressure in the Western Balkans. Nationalist and populist media are poisoning the political climate, while advocates for an open, tolerant and liberal society hardly get a chance to speak. Serbia under President Aleksandar Vučić is in particular moving toward autocracy.

A young film team from the Hamburg Media School led by Serbian-German director Tamara Denić and producer Christian Siée used this as an inspiration to make a gripping short film about a Serbian photojournalist who is threatened by right-wing gangs in Belgrade and flees to Germany, only to experience violence against journalists as well. For the research on the conditions prevailing in Serbia, the film team went on a mission and met with CRTA, a Serbian partner organization of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, among others.

The Student Oscars will be awarded on 26 October in Los Angeles. The film was selected from more than 2,400 entries to compete as a finalist with seven other films for the Oscar. Previously, “Istina” had won the Audience Award at the Max Ophüls Film Festival in Saarbrücken and was nominated for the British Academy of Film and Television Arts’ “BAFTA Student Awards”.

Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom will screen the short film at various locations in Germany and abroad over the course of the year, combined with a discussion on the situation of press freedom in both Serbia and Germany. FNF has financially supported the shooting of the German-Serbian co-production.