Through thematic educational exhibitions, described as highly artistic, multi-disciplinary and purporting the implementation of the multi-media and audio-visual segments, the Jewish Film Festival makes Zagreb the meeting point for the Croatian cultural scene and European and international art projects. With the innovative and interactive thematic exhibitions dedicated to the Holocaust, the Zagreb Jewish Film Festival enriches the city’s cultural offer introducing dynamics in the communication with the European and international cultural scene.

The Zagreb Jewish Film Festival is a symbol of the exchange of cultural initiatives and education involving many cultural and social categories that act jointly. Dislocation of exhibitions and the musical program outside of the main venue (the Europa Cinema) at other public and cultural institutions (The Home of HDLU, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the VIP club…) makes the entire project more dynamic, simultaneously contributing to a better visibility of many cultural institutions in Zagreb.

Numerous thematic exhibitions included in the Festival’s program serve as the indicator of Festival’s constant development, its program’s interdisciplinary and multimedia character reflected in the growing number of visitors every year. Some 3000 people visited the three thematic exhibitions set up at the Karas Gallery, HDLU and the Europa Cinema within the framework of the last, 6th Festival. Thematic exhibitions are also a tool for the development of the international cooperation (Seiji Kimoto with his exhibition Power and Powerlessness at the Karas Gallery; exhibition Poster Project in cooperation with the Jasenovac Memorial Centre and Yad Vashem) and the cooperation between different sectors (exhibition Two Faces of Roma Reality in cooperation with the UNHCR).Thematic exhibitions at the 6th festival were realized with the German Embassy in Zagreb, the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the logistical and financial support of the Goethe Institute in Zagreb, the Jasenovac Memorial Centre, the Yad Vashem Memorial Museum from Israel, the UNHCR and the Croatian Association of Artists.

Other exhibitions hosted by the Festival were: No child’s play in 2009 in cooperation with the Yad Vashem Memorial Museum from Israel and Faces of Resistance: Women in the Holocaust, which is an innovative travelling exhibition developed by the Moreshet from Israel and displayed in 2011. With the thematic exhibitions, the Festival actively connects the European and international centres with the institutions based in Zagreb, promoting the idea of tolerance through culture and arts.

“”Anti-Masonic posters”
Europa Cinema, May 19th – 25th, 2013

“Anti-Masonic posters” is a thematic exhibition of Nazi propaganda posters in Serbia during the World War II. The posters are owned by world-renowned designer Mirko Ilic. The exhibition is being held as an additional program of the Festival of Tolerance and can be seen from May 19th to 25th in Europa cinema in Zagreb and from June 2nd to 8th in Mali salon in Rijeka.

Until April 1941, Nazis have occupied most part of the Yugoslavian territory. After the Uprising in Serbia that was initiated in July 1941, Milan Nedic was appointed the prime minister of Serbian marionette government. Under his auspice, the “Grand Anti-Masonic Exhibition” (a code for anti-semitism) opened in occupied Belgrade on October 22nd, 1941, and ended on January 19th, 1942. It was funded by the Germans to fan the flames of an already virulent hatred against the Jews. These posters are from that exhibition.

The most significant review of the exhibition was given by Steven Heller, the most prominent American graphic designer, theorist, critic and renowned lecturer at the New York School of Visual Arts. According to him, the central theme of the exhibition was based on the traditional blood libel, an alleged Jewish – and, in this case, Jewish-Communist-Masonic plot for world domination. In addition to the exhibition, a huge amount of propaganda materials was created: over 200 000 different brochures, 60 000 posters, 100 000 flyers, 108 000 samples of nine different types of illustrated envelopes, 176 movie clips, four postage stamps, and more. The big lie was more believable when it was everywhere and on everything.

The posters proclaimed that the Jews were the ancient enemies of the Serbian people and that Serbs should not wait for the Germans to begin with their extermination. Judaism, portrayed in stereotypical orthodox guise, was presented as the source of evil in the world. Furthermore, the posters advocated the “humiliation and violent subjugation” of Jews. Particularly interesting is the material showing the alleged Jewish domination over the American press and finances, and, especially, the control of The New York Times. This routine type of anti-semitic propaganda conflated Jews into both capitalists and communists – the deceptive Zionist force that dominated all aspects of European (indeed, world) economic life. The imagery was produced by graphic artists and designers who drew from templates produced in Germany at the Nazi Propaganda Atelier in Berlin.

The “Anti-Masonic posters” exhibition consists of 17 original and 3 replicated (newly printed) posters with the same dimensions of the original ones. The exhibition is organized in collaboration with Mr. Mirko Ilić, Ministry of Culture, Embassy of the United States and the American nonprofit organization – AIC Foundation Inc.