BeFem

BeFem, the feminist festival of culture and action, is promoting the ideas and politics of feminism.  The festival is a continuation of the feminist activism in this region, and at the same time it opens new fields of action through dialogue and initiatives by feminists with different history.

The program of BeFem 2010 is focusing on questioning and re-thinking of different feminist processes for the empowerment of women, and of constructing political models for societal solidarity with the Other. We also want to deconstruct negative stereotypes about feminism and feminists and to try to move feminist activism and ideas closer to new generations.

BeFem 2010 is a result of cooperation and exchange between activists, theorists and artists from Serbia, Sweden and the ex-Yu region. It is supported by the Swedish Institute. The festival will bring us discussions, workshops, women's film making, stand-up comedy, street art, theatre and DJs. The second BeFem is happening on the 11^thth of December in cultural centre REX, Jevrejska 16, and in club Apartman, Karadjordjeva 43.

BeFem is adding Fun to Feminism!

BeFem 2010

Feminist Festival of Culture and Action

December 11, Rex, Jevrejska 16

14:00               Opening of BeFem 2010

With Jelena Visnjic and Christina Wassholm

14.15-15.15 Discussion: Humor as a feminist strategy

Feminism is often connected with fight, frustration and anger. But feminist activism offers a lot of chances to laugh as well. Meet the cartoonist and the stand-up comedian who are combining political activism with a big doze of humor!

With Liv Strömqvist, cartoonist, and Moa Svan, stand-up comedian

15.30-16.30     Discussion: Men in feminism, men about feminism

Is feminism a women's thing or can men contribute? If yes, from which position and with which perspective? Three men from Serbia and Sweden will share their experiences and views.

With Christoph Fielder, Ivan Živić, Relja Popović. Moderator: Hana Ćopić

17.00-18.00 Discussion: What's love got to do with it*?

*feminism

From where did we get the idea of romantic love? Can love exist without knowledge? Why is the heterosexual nuclear family so worshiped as a way of organizing life? What can we discover when we deconstruct the concept of love? And what has Mileva Maric-Einsten and Whitney Houston got to do with this?

With Liv Strömqvist, cartoonist and Jelisaveta Blagojevic, philosopher. Moderator :Christina Wassholm

18.30-20.00 Premier of documentary film "12-15%” followed by a panel discussion
The documentary from Women's Information and Documentation Centre (WINDOC) deals with the appearance of women and marginalized groups in media. It is based on the results of several years of media research by WINDOC, with illustrative examples and interviews with persons involved in media work in different ways. Through a collage of different experiences, thinking, creative suggestions for possible changes, richly illustrated facts and examples, this theme gets a new dimension and opens up new questions.

Directors: Violeta Anđelković and Lidija Vasiljević

Link for trailer: http://www.blip.tv/file/4347338/

Panelists: Violeta Anđelković and Lidija Vasiljević (Windoc), Minja Bogavac (dramaturge), Ivana Semerad (Elle magazin)

Club Apartman (Karađorđeva 43)

21.30-22.00 Music story Cicely Irvine (SWE)

Join Cicely on a journey in your mind, let her music flow through her to you and from you to her.

22.15-23.00 The trace of human teeth FENS theatre (SRB)

“The trace of human teeth” is a play based on a true story about a shelter for women and children who are victims of violence in Belgrade, who had to shut down after a certain incident that the play will show. Through the roles of Z.K. and Grozdana the life stories of different women from the shelter are woven together.

The play tells about women who are coming to the shelter from different situations of domestic violence – about their lives before and after the violence. The characters also talk about their bodies, motherhood and sexuality, and with their different standpoints they enrich the heavy topics with humor, sarcasm and irony. More correctly, the play is a walk through tragic-comic dialogues, rises and falls of two completely different women.

Actresses: Olga Blanarik-Shade and Biljana Stankovic-Lori

Script: Mirjana Ojdanic

Director: Biljana Stankovic-Lori

23.00-23.20 Le wHORe (SRB)

The first feminist lesbian choir in Serbia will sing some sweet goldies, light a candle in your eyes and blow some warmth in your hearts.

23.30-00.00 Stand-up comedy         Moa Svan (SWE)

00.00-  02.00 DJ Elle. M.(BiH)

December 12, REX, Jevrejska 16

13.00-14.00 Panel: Racism, homophobia, militarism – feminist strategies, answers and critique

What are the answers that feminism can provide when fighting fear, hatred and violence? How does solidarity look like in practice, and are we really as good at it as we want to believe?

With Shadé Jalali, equality expert, Vera Kurtić (Women's Space), Katarina Lončarevic (Centre for women's studies), Boban Stojanović (Queeria centre), Jelena Savic (activist). Moderator: Adriana Zaharijević (Centre for women's studies)

14.15-16.00     Workshop: Methods for anti-racist and feminist practice

Workshop leader: Shadé Jalali

16.30-18.30 Street art action

Learn stencil technique and go out and make your town more beautiful!

Workshop leader: Anđela Mujčić, inside and outdoor artist

Liv Strömquist is one of Sweden's best known cartoonists, having published four books since her breakthrough in 2006. Both her latest album, Prince Charles' feeling, and the previous one, Einstein's wife give a humorous and fact-loaded critics of romantic love and the nuclear family through pop-cultural and historical examples. Liv also works as a journalist at the Swedish public service radio and has a long history of political and feminist activism.

Christoph Fielder is a feminist activist based in Stockholm, Sweden.

He has been engaged in a variety of different feminist activist work for over ten years.

Among the things he has done is a queer-feminist film festival in Stockholm and he runs a queer-feminist punk-club called Queers, Beers and Rears. He has co-written the book We are Misfits! - Queer-feminist activism and anarchist visions.

Christoph is one of the board members of Rättviseförmedlingen (the Equality Agency).

Shadé Jalali

She works as an equality specialist at the headquarters of the trade union “Unionen” in Sweden. Her ambition is to make the world a better place to live in. That's why she studied gender, sociology and international migration and ethnic relations at the university and that's why she worked at the Swedish RedCross directly after her studies and that's the main reason why she works for equality within a trade union. “Equality in my terms means that everyone gets to choose who they are and want to be. But I also believe in solidarity and the power of many in order to make a change.”

Cicely Irvine

She is Cicely. She usually makes music for films but has also had some live performances with a loop-station. During this half an hour she will take you on a journey in your own mind, let her music flow through her to you and from you to her. It is a beautiful exchange. Cicely says: I want it to be an interactive performance, feel free to use your voice together with me...

FENS Theatre was founded in February 1999. The feminist procedures and policies originated from Biljana Stankovic' exam work at women studies and research “Mileva Maric Einsten” in Novi Sad. FENS Theatre, as a political-performative reaction on the position of women in society, is old art with new responsibilities. Our direction is minimalistic with an accent on delivering clear feminist messages. FENS Theatre was part of the mobile medical team at the Novi Sad Humanitarian Centre from 1999 to 2002, and played more than 40 times in refugee camps, basements, on fields and on steps. FENS Theatre has in total given 135 performances in the former Yugoslavia region.

Le wHORe

It all started by getting to know and follow the work of Lezbora from Zagreb as well as thinking about how women's activism in Serbia is missing some activities that give women joy. Our activistic work is, for a reason, filled of themes of war, violence, fighting the very present patriarchy all around us.

By creating a women's choir we want to contribute with joy and fun to women's activism. The choir is an open space for all women, no matter vocal capabilities.

The choir is a space in which we develop and strengthen our voice. The choir promotes lesbian-feministic existence and values.

Moa Svan is a lesbian comedian who works as a radio host and a TV host in Sweden. She has her own comedy club in Stockholm, and has made a comedy show on the youth channel on Swedish Radio. The show was called "kyss min plysch" and is loved by feminists all over Sweden.

Now she is in Belgrade to do her first stand-up in english ever!

DJ Elle. M.

A unique match of original art and female intuition. In case you have any kind of connection with the underground electronic sound scene in Sarajevo, you can not have missed her. Ilvana Dizdarevic /Elle. M. Born in Sarajevo, where she discovered her love for music when she listened to tapes as a little girl.

It all started in the cult kafana Barhana. Some time later she started playing music in the club Budha bar, then Fis, and Balkan, places where you can hear her also today.

She has played in festivals like PitchWise/sarajevo 2008, mesto zensko/Ljubljana 2008, Dani Sarajeva /Belgrade 2009, VOX Feminae /Zagreb 2009, Young Artist group exhibition (YAGE)/Sarajevo 2009.

In mid 2010 the music night “LaTe DiNNer ShoW with Elle.M” was born, which she is courageously running on Wednesdays in the cult bar Fis kultura.

DJane Jasmina

It was in 1999 that Jasmina Mameleddzija stood at the DJ booth for the first time. She learned mixing at Radio 3, her second home. As the first woman DJ in the country she created an interest among domestic and international public and so documentaries have been made about her and articles written, which has opened the doors of international clubs for her. She plays everything that she likes: dirty, minimalistic, deep, explosive. Sometimes it is darker sets, minimalistic and serious, and sometimes progressive and eclectic, and Depeche Mode, Radiohead and Underworld are always in her suitcase. It sounds something like woaum bom bom tum tum piu quich bang vau tata fiiiuuuu and sometimes lalala. She says that DJ-ing, besides easy moving on the dance floor, is the best feeling in the world for her. Jasmine is a member of the provocative trio Starke.

Andjela Mujcic is born in Nis and finished her master degree on the faculty of art in the same city. She took specialist studies at the faculty of visual arts in Belgrade and is at the moment back in Nis for her doctoral studies. She has had three independent exhibitions and took part in over 40 group exhibitions. She is part of the art groups ULUS and ArtEQ, and she was rewarded second price in the creative multimedia competition “Voyage Blue”.