Serbia's Film Industry Frozen by Alleged Blacklists — SkimNews
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- Eight Serbian film guilds and professional associations issued an open letter to the international film community alleging that 'political interference, informal blacklists of filmmakers and public attacks on artists have become systemic' and describing 'a coordinated campaign of state-sponsored censorship.'
- Film Center Serbia, the national funding body, has not announced a public funding call in nearly two years, creating what the coalition calls a 'total freeze on funding calls designed to starve independent production.'
- The industry crisis traces to the November 2024 Novi Sad railway station canopy collapse that killed 16 bystanders and triggered mass protests; Prime Minister Miloš Vučević resigned in the aftermath while President Aleksandar Vučić has rejected calls for his own resignation.
- Director Jelena Maksimović, whose Venice-bound debut 'Until the Day Ends' is set against the student-led protests, told Variety the silencing campaign is 'part of a broader attack on workers, on collective organizing and on the possibility of imagining a society based on solidarity, equality and freedom.'
- Producer Jelena Angelovski said institutional film funding has been 'entirely suspended' for close to two years 'except for those who are propagating the right-wing nationalist government's corrupted ways,' and framed the blacklisting as part of a broader regime strategy that includes 'physical violence and imprisonment.'
- Telekom Srbija and United Media have been accused of blacklisting politically undesirable creatives; United Media did not respond to Variety's request for comment, while Telekom Srbija's Aleksandra Martinović rejected the allegations, saying the group is 'completely open-minded' and 'completely open' to work with any talent.
Why it matters: With Film Center Serbia's public funding calls frozen for nearly two years and state-aligned media groups accused of blacklisting dissenters, independent Serbian filmmakers say the country's screen industries — historically a Balkan powerhouse — are being structurally converted into a mouthpiece for the Vučić government, eroding not just entertainment output but the broader space for critical public discourse.
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