Queer Sarajevo Festival 2008

The first Sarajevo Queer Festival took place in the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Threats had been made during the run-up to the event and, at the event’s opening, there were indeed attacks on both the festival’s organisers and those taking part. The first Queer Sarajevo Festival (QSF) was scheduled to take place from September 24-28, 2008, coinciding with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The „city of tolerance and multiculture" framed the QSF as a „faggot's provocation" and its organizers as „imported scum activists". The government, subtly and verbally, hooligans and wahhabis, brutally and physically, stood on the same side -- against the festival. The police was somewhere in between. QSF was opened leaving a dozen of people injured. Although it did not continue, it remains open, questioning the very nature of democracy in BiH.

The First Queer Sarajevo Festival (QSF) was organized by Organization Q. The aim of the QSF was to present 'life stories' of LGBTIQ persons -- their daily lives, loves, relationships, friendships, families, activism, fears, and all other 'life matters' and questions with which LGBTIQ persons are confronted. In order to include queer theory, art and culture into Sarajevo cultural mainstream scene, Festival's organizational team prepared five day program, including exhibitions, films (documentary and featured), round tables, and performances. [Organization Q]

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Queer Sarajevo Festival 2008 [ENG], 2009 from masa hilcisin on Vimeo.