The short film “Istina”, produced by a young international film team from the Hamburg Media School and co-financed by Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, tells the story of a photojournalist from Belgrade who, threatened by right-wing extremist groups, flees Serbia and comes to Germany with her daughter. When the Foundation got involved in the project, it was impossible to foresee how resounding the success would be: in October 2023, “Istina” was awarded a Student Oscar (Student Academy Award) in Hollywood. For the film crew, director of the film, Tamara Denić, and producer Christian Siée, a dream came true.

With the Oscar-winning filmmakers on stage, the Foundation organized film screenings throughout Germany to raise awareness of violence against members of the media. Representatives of the Foundation’s partner organizations from Serbia bore witness to the deplorable state of freedom of the press in South-Eastern Europe. However, it is not only abroad that the right to a free press must be defended on a daily basis. In Germany, too, every attack on journalists is an attack on everyone’s right to inform themselves politically in order to make a decision based on free will. It is courageous people like Jelena from Belgrade, who stand up for human rights right every day.