BOSIFEST is the only festival of its kind in Southeast Europe, what is its place in the cultural map of Belgrade and this part of Europe?

The very fact that in our region, this festival has no competition says a lot about its importance. I noticed that the authors and audience from neighboring countries by participating in the festival contribute to it that from the very beginning it goes beyond local boundaries and its importance is much greater than an ordinary city's cultural event. For people from a population which is engaged in the festival, Bosi is much more than a film festival, for them it is a meeting place and a place to promote equality and a better attitude of society towards people with disabilities.

BOSIFEST will be held at the Youth Center which is, after reconstruction, fully adjusted for people with disabilities. How many other places of cultural events in Belgrade are accessible to people with disabilities?

Youth Center is a cult place and the institution in which many generations have built name recognition. We are delighted that we have, with some donor support from the United States, succeeded in completely rebuilding and reconstructing object, accessibility to all parts of the building for people with disabilities was implied. All the buildings in the city that are reconstructed are adapted for people with disabilities and that applies to all new buildings. Unfortunately, the old buildings that were built in the days when it was not sufficiently taken into account are still inaccessible and their reconstruction and adaptation depends solely on financial resources.

What are the most common prejudices about people with disabilities?

I think much more could be said by the people with disabilities, those who feel on their own skin weight of prejudices and poor attitude towards them. It certainly seems that people with disabilities are not present in the public, in bodies of authority and decision-making or even in the streets and public places in the percentage that they are there and in number that would be equal representation. It is clear to the majority of the population is still not seen as equally capable, reasonable and equal members of the community. Sometimes we are not even aware that we exclude and discriminate people and to what extent this is happening. At the festival you can see a lot of movies on the subject, which aim is to draw attention precisely on the problem of discrimination and to expose the hypocrisy and bad attitude towards people who have not deserved it in any way.

In recent years, City of Belgrade has done a lot to make daily lives of people with disabilities easier. What projects would you single out as the most important and what are the future plans in this area?

First, I would point out that in our city government it’s already a second consecutive term that we have councilors who are people with disabilities themselves and they participate in the meetings of the Assembly and its working bodies in a wheelchair.The mayor has formed a working body lead by persons with disabilities and that body, that commission, directs the executive branch of the City when it comes to improving the living conditions of persons with disabilities. These activities should not be planned and implemented without the active participation of those concerned and who we want to help. So I think this work is very successful in recent years and there is little time and space to mention all the projects and all activities that have been implemented. It is about improving public transport, the removal of architectural barriers and adapting buildings and public spaces, the project of education, training, employment, better health and social care, the inclusion and continuous activities aimed at changing relationships and attitudes of the majority population towards people that are in the category of persons with disabilities. We will continue in this direction, with continuously increasing the participation of people with disabilities and their organizations in the design and implementation of such projects and activities.

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