Incomprehensible conduct by the Ministry and Herceg Novi authorities has brought shame on both the Herceg Novi Film Festival and Montenegro

A group of non-governmental organizations and civil society activists have issued the strongest condemnation of the attempted censorship of actor Dragan Mićanović’s speech at the opening of the Herceg Novi Film Festival (FFHN/MFF), following which he decided not to deliver the speech.

The strongest condemnation of the suppression of critical voices and pressure on artistic freedom was expressed by the Centre for Civic Education, Human Rights Action, the NGO Ipso Facto, the Centre for Women’s Rights, and civil society activists Jovana Marović, Dina Bajramspahić and Paula Petričević.

They believe that the incomprehensible conduct of the Ministry of Culture and Media and the local authorities in Herceg Novi has brought shame both on a film festival with a tradition spanning more than three decades and on Montenegro.

- Public funding of a cultural institution does not give the authorities the right to abuse their power and degrade the content and programme of a festival by allowing only politically acceptable speech at its opening. Quite the contrary, public institutions should encourage dialogue and diversity of opinion about our reality, just as the films selected for the festival do - the organizations said in a joint statement.

They point out that this is part of a broader pattern in which the Ministry of Culture and Media does not serve as a shield for artistic freedom and the development of creative work, but rather as an instrument for catering to narrow party interests and the dictates of the ruling establishment. The consequences, they note, are being felt by society as a whole - from withholding support for authentic projects and marginalizing independent artists, to controversial decisions regarding prestigious national awards, targeting critically oriented media outlets and restricting critical thought.

The signatories added that this latest attempt at censorship represents a serious indication of institutional pressure on freedom of artistic expression.

- Throughout history, art has been and remains a bastion of freedom - a space for rebellion, individuality, refusal to accept boundaries and uncompromising examination of social reality. The clearest indication of a government’s decline is the moment when it begins to impose boundaries on culture and artists - the statement emphasized.

They stressed that it is particularly disheartening that such practices are being carried out in Montenegro in 2026, a country that publicly prides itself on European values and announces its imminent accession to the European Union, while behaving according to authoritarian models that run counter to the very foundations of the EU - freedom of expression, pluralism and the protection of the independence of cultural and artistic creation.

- Commitment to European values is not demonstrated through bureaucratic statements, but through a genuine willingness to reflect on different opinions and open our horizons to new perspectives. These should also be the values of the Herceg Novi Film Festival, whose universal values were not respected on this occasion - the statement said.

They called for accountability before the public and demanded an explanation of who was behind the ban - whether it was a decision made by the Ministry of Culture and Media itself, the local administration, the prime minister or the Government.

The NGOs and female civil society activists expressed their solidarity with Dragan Mićanović.

- In the speech he was not allowed to deliver, he wanted to draw attention to the rise of violence in Serbia, whose victims included students and a professor at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts, to the lack of funding for film production, and to what he described as the „systematic elimination of the free-thinking cultural scene“. He wanted to draw attention to the injustices he sees around him, just as Shakespeare did in his Sonnet 66, which Mićanović, incidentally, performs spectacularly - they said.

They emphasized that Mićanović’s message, rooted in his own experience, is universal.

- It is a message about people’s right to life, dignity and freedom of artistic expression. These are the very same themes addressed by films in this year’s festival programme in Herceg Novi, which deal with suffering in Kosovo, Srebrenica, Palestine… Denying an artist the right to speak at the opening of such a festival about the situation faced by artists in his own country is nonsensical and fundamentally contrary to the spirit of this cultural event - the statement emphasized.

They called on Montenegro’s artistic and cultural community to express solidarity with actor Dragan Mićanović, who was subjected to an attempt at censorship, and to join the protest against the unacceptable conduct of state institutions controlled by the ruling Democratic Montenegro party.

Signatories:

Jovana Marović, civil society activist

Dina Bajramspahić, civil society activist

Daliborka Uljarević, Centre for Civic Education 

Paula Petričević, civil society activist

Tea Gorjanc Prelević, Human Rights Action (HRA)

Milena Popović Samardžić, NGO Ipso Facto

Maja Raičević, Centre for Women’s Rights