In August, Sarajevo was the centre of the region on the occasion of the 28th edition of the Sarajevo Film Festival. This year, for the first time, Young European Ambassadors (YEAs) also attended the event as part of the Human Rights Day programme.

The programme was attended by 11 YEAs along with volunteers from the Institute for Youth Development, KULT, from Bosnia and Herzegovina. They watched special selections of films, and attended lectures and workshops led by experts in the fields of human rights and engaged art, and took part in panels with participants of the youth programme on “Dealing with the Past.”

During these five days, YEAs had the opportunity to watch movies by respected filmmakers like Ari Folman and Joseph Pierson, to listen to the stories and experiences of the most famous Bosnian war reporter, Aida Čerkez, and the leader of the NGO Forgotten Children of War, Ajna Jusić.  They also to spoke with EU Ambassador, Johann Sattler, and the Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Jan Waltmans. The programme used a combination of art – primarily film – and academic and activist work to ask the question: to whom do human rights belong today?