On Wednesday, 05 December the premiere of the documentary film “Be a man – change the rules” was held at the Belgrade Youth Center.
This film was simultaneously premiered in 12 cities in Serbia within the campaign “Real man” implemented by Center E8 from 19 November to 10 December this year. It was shown in Kragujevac, Blace, Loznica, Temerin, Bački Petrovac, Novi Pazar, Prijepolje, Smederevo, Kladovo, Kikinda and Velika Plana.
The film was created as a part of the project “Young men as allies in preventing violence and conflict in the Western Balkans” implemented by Center E8 and CARE North West Balkans, with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Norway.
“Be a man” is a term that has traditionally encouraged the negative behavior in boys. Just for this reason, a project that has been carried out for five years in the Balkans has a name that forces young people to ask themselves what it means to “Be a man.” How does life of young men who are part of this project look like? Tonight you will see their work, personal change and efforts to change something through the eye of the camera that has followed them for three years.
The film was directed by Marko Popović, and screenplay was written by Miša Stojiljković.
After the premiere, a discussion was held with the participants of the film Behudin Tutundžić and Stefan Tanasijević as well as with Vojislav Arsić from Center E8 and John Crownover from CARE. Moderator of the discussion was Miša Stojiljković.
The consequences of the breakup of Yugoslavia, we could notice through return of the traditional and patriarchal norms in the newly established states. Today, young men, high school students, have entered a new era that came after the conflict and they have no memories of the wars of the nineties. Young men in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia seek new models of behavior, and some have begun to question the old order of gender inequality and violence that was prevalent throughout the region.
“Be a man” … is a term that has traditionally encouraged the negative behavior in boys. Just for this reason, a project that has been carried out for five years has a name that forces young people to ask themselves what it means to “Be a man.”
How do their work, personal change and efforts to change something look like through the eye of the camera that has followed them for three years?
Through the story of a teenager from Sarajevo, whose mother divorced his father because of domestic violence, we will learn how he avoided all obstacles and pressures of society, became a youth activist and peer educator. Sixteen year-old from Zagreb, also of divorced parents, tries to explain to his friends why he thinks it is okay to have a friend who is gay. Seventeen year-old from a small town in Serbia tells the story about his local rock band collects old books and organizes poetry nights instead of drinking with the guys in front of the local shop.
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