No. 07-00-3/2025-02   Date: 25.7.2025.

OPINION

The opinion was issued in the procedure based on the complaint filed by AA against the Director of the Cultural Center (CC) for discrimination based on sexual orientation as a personal characteristic. The complaint states that the CC canceled the screening of the film “Beside Us” due to its LGBT themes. As evidence, the complainant submitted correspondence from social media, in which the Director of the CC wrote that the film has “no qualities other than being gay, so we will not screen it,” as well as a statement from witness BB, who was told that the film could not be screened due to its LGBT themes. The complaint further states that the film was co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and that local cultural centers have an obligation to prioritize Serbian films in accordance with the Law on Cinematography, as in some places they are the only cinemas where films can be viewed. Given the evidence submitted with the complaint, the Commissioner finds that the act of discrimination has been made probable in accordance with Article 45 of the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination, thus shifting the burden of proof that the act did not occur to the CC In her statement, the Director of the CC stated that the reasons for not screening the film were purely commercial in nature, i.e., that the Cultural Center is not funded from the budget of its founder but from its own commercial activities and ticket sales, and that her assessment was that screening the film would not be profitable for the institution. As evidence, she submitted an email from VV of “Taramount Film” dated April 7, 2025, which provides data on the number of viewers and the profit the film achieved. She also submitted emails in which she responded to inquiries from TV Insider and TV Nova, stating that the film was not banned, but that the Cultural Center operates on a market basis and that the film does not fit the “program policy and financial situation.” After conducting the procedure and analyzing the evidence, the Commissioner concludes that the CC, to which the burden of proof has been shifted in accordance with the law, did not provide evidence that there were objective and justified reasons for canceling the screening of the film “Beside Us.” Meanwhile, the evidence submitted with the complaint, the facts stated in the correspondence, the witness statement of the cinema distribution production manager, and the email from the Director of Marketing and Distribution of “Taramount Film” sent to the CC indicate that the motive for canceling the film screening was its LGBT theme. In issuing this opinion, the Commissioner took into account that the CC is a public service, i.e., a cultural institution, which performs tasks in the field of culture that ensure the realization of citizens’ rights, and the satisfaction of citizens’ needs in the field of culture. The Law on Cinematography stipulates that one of the public interests in the field of cinematography is the encouragement of domestic film art, and that the encouragement of domestic cinematography is ensured from the budget of the Republic of Serbia, the autonomous province, and local self-government Considering all of the above, the opinion was issued that the CC, through its actions, violated the provisions of Article 6 of the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination. The Commissioner recommended that the CC eliminate the consequences of the act of discrimination and enable the screening of the film “Beside Us” at the CC, as well as to adhere to anti-discrimination regulations in the future.

COMMISSIONER FOR THE PROTECTION OF EQUALITY

 Brankica Janković