Harmless Film Festival is dedicated to films that deal with memory and conflicts, wars, revolutions, and other socially transformative events - as well as the causes that led to them and the consequences they left behind.
The festival welcomes documentary, fiction and animation works that confront the political, social, and emotional dimensions of collective trauma and human resilience. We seek films that question or illuminate the mechanisms of power, violence, and resistance, as well as those that explore the processes of remembrance. Through film, we aim to connect different geographies and generations of experience, fostering critical dialogue on the world’s stories of struggle, survival, and change.
At a time when culture in Serbia is under increasing pressure, and the public space is marked by demonstrations of force against citizens, Harmless Film Festival emerges as a space for resistance, exchange, and critical reflection. At the same time, as we witness once again the destruction of entire societies and the normalization of violence across the world, the need for such spaces becomes even more evident.
In addition to the competition program, the festival introduces a special selection, ALL EYES ON, dedicated to regions and communities currently facing a crisis.
The program will be complemented by talks with authors, lectures, and accompanying content through the Harmless Spotlights and Harmless Lightspots initiatives, bringing together artists, activists, and organizations from the Western Balkans.
The festival is established and organized by the Vojvodina Civic Centre (VCC). Founded in 2008 in Novi Sad, VCC is dedicated to uncovering, preserving, and publicly sharing personal experiences related to the wars of the 1990s and their lasting social consequences. Through research, oral history, and cultural production, Vojvodina Civic Centre works to build a participatory culture of remembrance grounded in overlooked and silenced narratives.
Best Short Film (Jury Award) and Audience Award
