Heartefact organizes third Pride theater festival

The Hartefakt Fund organizes the third edition of the Pride Theater Festival from September 12 to 17, 2021.

The third edition of the Heartefact’s Pride Theater Festival is being held at the moment when the LGBTIQ+ community of Serbia is waiting for same-sex partnerships to be legally regulated and when, owing to the coronavirus pandemic, the issues of violence, discrimination and freedom conquering have been relegated to the periphery. LGBTIQ+ persons are faced with additional pressure, besides those regular, silent and established practices of denying their problems. Besides the constant need to fight untruths as well as the intimidation of the majority of population, using various means such as the improvement of the community’s position by adopting solidarity and fairer practices, being at the same time well aware of the fact that the space of the common has been seriously threatened by contemporary life and business, we are organizing this festival with the intention of opening new spaces, questions and poetics that rethink the key phenomena – important for the community itself.

The thematic framework of this year’s festival is manipulations, which represent an extension of the worrying right-wing political discourses that exist across Europe and the world, but also in Serbia, as well as of the fear of violence and regression caused by the growing intolerance, hatred and open violence towards members of the LGBTIQ+ community in different countries.

In light of the fact that Belgrade will be the host of EuroPride 2020, we feel it is important to speak out about all those marginalized, forgotten or implied issues which may eventually contribute to improving the life conditions of the LGBTIQ+ community in Serbia. This year’s festival encourages a circle of exchange, dialogue, as well as horizontally connecting authors, audiences, students, professionals and all those who may be interested in attending it.

Through the selection of this year’s program, the artistic team of the festival wishes to rethink various forms of manipulation, that is, why and how we manipulate (the truth, situations and the given circumstances) to protect ourselves, as well as manipulation for political purposes, no matter whether we are the ones who are manipulated or the ones who actively participate in the manipulation process. The plays, performances and lectures included in the festival program all provide different perspectives on the theme.

The play which will open this year’s festival, “An Ongoing Song”, by Polish author Szymon Adamczak, is concerned with the issues of HIV from a very intimate perspective, encountering, confronting and accepting one’s altered state of health. By problematizing the issue of the HIV virus which seemingly manipulates the body, the life circumstances, as well as the choice of the partner and the surroundings, the author courageously speaks about his own experience, therefore providing the audience with one of the many possible perspectives for the coexistence with HIV. The play “Pazi na prazninu” (“Mind the Gap”) by Romano Nikolić (Croatia) rethinks those hasty choices we make while defining the Other and the different. By means of a station situation where the protagonists meet, the play becomes an encounter of drag performances, tragic heroes and “moral” revelations from the documentary material. The play “Water Drops on Burning Rocks” by Fassbinder, directed by Jug Đorđević, deals with the issue of the abuse of power positions, both from the predator’s and the victim’s perspective. It further exploits the nature of the relationship between two homosexual men in heterosexual marriages to illustrate the full complexity of a woman’s position in contemporary society. The play “Strah od leptira” (“Fear of Butterflies”), directed by Isidora Goncić, by taking a form of duo drama, rethinks the limits of freedom, those who set the limits and the price we have to pay for crossing the limits, as well as whether and to what extent we are truly free. ‘s will open a new festival movement of art studio and audience’s insight into the process of creating, exploring and producing performative art forms. This Brazilian artist, who is currently living in Amsterdam, raises important questions of the role and vulnerable position of women in performance practices.

Download the whole program.

This year’s Heartefact’s Theater Festival has been supported by the Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Serbia, the City of Belgrade and the national platform “Serbia Creates”. We are greatly indebted to the Belgrade Drama Theater, the National Theater in Belgrade, the Institution of Culture “Vuk”, the Endžio HAB Gallery, the Cultural Center “Grad”, and to the whole team of Belgrade Pride.

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Open Application Call for Kosovo–Serbia Bridge Fellowship Program

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Radical Optimism from a Kosovar Hill — an original text by director Tara Manić about Dua Lipa’s concert in Pristina

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CALL FOR PROJECT PROPOSALS: INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT GRANTS (REPUBLIC OF NORTH MACEDONIA)

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The First Sarajevo Theatre Showcase Presented Numerous Young Artists to the Regional and European Theatre Public

From September 12 to 15, Sarajevo hosted the first edition of the Sarajevo Theatre Showcase, an annual professional event that provides a significant development platform for theatre professionals from Southeast Europe. The Showcase is organized by cultural organizations and theatres from five countries: Sarajevo War Theatre SARTR, Heartefact from Serbia, Ulysses Theatre from Croatia, Binario Vivo from Italy, Para Film&Theatre from Norway, and Realstage from Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Exhibition of Personal Stories from Marginalized Communities “There’s Room for Everyone” Opened at Heartefact House

The exhibition “There’s Room for Everyone”, part of the campaign of the same name, was officially opened on Thursday, September 4, in the lobby of Heartefact House and will be available to visitors until the end of September. Photographs of various marginalized communities in Serbia, staged inside an elevator, are accompanied by personal testimonies of participants, highlighting that diversity should not be a reason for exclusion, but rather an opportunity for solidarity.

Students from Serbia visited the Short Theatre Festival in Rome within the European project Fabulamundi – New Voices

As part of the final phase of the European project Fabulamundi – New Voices, in which Heartefact and partners from about ten countries have been participating over the past two and a half years, we organized a visit of students from Serbia to the partner festival Short Theatre in Rome. The visit took place from September 5 to 7, during the 20th anniversary edition of this renowned festival.

The project “Culture for Development” announces to the public the names of the projects that received support within the first call!

The grants for cultural and artistic projects are awarded for the development and implementation of socially relevant contemporary art projects that contribute to the enrichment of culture and promote diversity in artistic practices and expressions, address critical social issues, and encourage community development.

Young Artists and Activists from Serbia Visited Festivals in Pristina and Prizren as Part of Heartefact’s Visiting Program

As part of Heartefact’s Kosovo–Serbia Visiting Program, we organized a visit in early August to festivals in Pristina and Prizren for a group of young artists and activists from Serbia. During the visit, the participants had the opportunity to attend three major cultural events in Kosovo – the 24th edition of the DokuFest International Documentary Film Festival in Prizren, the 6th edition of the Sunny Hill music festival in Pristina, and the 5th edition of the Autostrada Biennale, an international contemporary art festival.

OPEN CALL: GRANTS FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ON-THE-JOB TRAINING AND CAPACITY BUILDING (REPUBLIC OF NORTH MACEDONIA)

Public presentation of the play Doughnuts held as part of the New Voices workshop

On Sunday, July 6, a public presentation of the play Doughnuts (Buhtle) was held at Heartefact House, marking the conclusion of the four-day Playground for New Voices workshop. The workshop took place within the European project Fabulamundi: New Voices, which Heartefact implements with partners from nine European countries. It was led by director and playwright Patrik Lazić, in collaboration with emerging playwright Jelena Krdžavac, the acting ensemble, and translator Olja Petronić.

Exploring and developing contemporary drama through process: Doughnuts by Jelena Krdžavac in the spotlight of the Playground workshop

As part of the Fabulamundi project, implemented by Heartefact in collaboration with partners from nine European countries, the Playground workshop is taking place in Belgrade from July 3 to 6. Led by director and playwright Patrik Lazić, the workshop brings together a cast of actors and emerging playwright Jelena Krdžavac to explore and further develop her play Doughnuts (Buhtle), which was shortlisted in last year’s Heartefact Competition for Best Contemporary Socially Engaged Drama.

Culture for Democracy: Supported Projects within the Call for Cultural and Artistic Project Implementation in Serbia

An exceptional response—totaling 273 applications—reflects the critical position of the cultural sector in Serbia in the context of the current political and social climate. Based on the Commission’s evaluation, 22 projects have been selected for support, with a total budget of 21,500,000.00 RSD. Although this amount exceeds the originally planned budget for this call, we believe that, amid the ongoing crisis and with public calls for cultural funding either canceled or indefinitely postponed, such support is more necessary than ever.

Artistic Residency and Public Presentation of Gaelle Axelbrun’s Play Held as Part of the Playground Project

From June 22 to 28, 2025, an artistic residency of French playwright Gaelle Axelbrun took place at Heartefact House in Belgrade, as part of the European project Playground. During this intensive seven-day working period, Gaelle, together with director Tara Manić, translator Olja Petronić, and the acting ensemble—Nevena Kočović, Jana Bjelica, and Andrej Nježić—explored the dramaturgical and performative potential of her play Far from the Mud in Which We Sink into Sleep.

Residency of French Author Gaelle Axelbrun in Belgrade as Part of the Playground Project

From June 22 to 28, 2025, the Heartefact House in Belgrade will host a residency for French playwright Gaelle Axelbrun as part of the European project Playground. This intensive seven-day residency, organized by Heartefact, is part of an international collaboration focused on the development of contemporary dramatic texts by emerging European authors.

First Seminar for Youth from Serbia Held as Part of the Regional VIBE Program

From June 20 to 22, 2025, Heartefact organized a three-day seminar for young people from Serbia in Belgrade as part of the regional program VIBE – Connecting Young People. The program brings together youth from Serbia, Montenegro, and Albania with the aim of strengthening regional cooperation and exchange. Designed as a space for learning, dialogue, and connection, it focuses on human rights, regional cooperation, the shared history of the region, and reflections on the future that young people wish to shape through activism and civic engagement.