A RICH AND DIVERSE ACCOMPANYING PROGRAM OF THE 31st INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF CHILDREN'S THEATRES SUBOTICA

As part of the 31st International Festival of Children’s Theatres Subotica’s accompanying program (organized by Open University Subotica and taking place from September 22-27) exhibitions, book presentations, film screenings, workshops and discussion panels with award winners will be organized.

On Monday, September 23 at 11:30 a.m. an exhibition of festival posters designed by the students of Belgrade Faculty of Applied Arts will be opened at The Danilo Kiš Foundation for Youth Culture and Creativity. The posters were designed by 3rd year students of the Applied Graphics Dept. (study modules: Graphics, Book, Animation; subject: Illustration) under supervision of the professor Boban Savić Geto.

On the same day at 1:00 p.m. an exhibition honoring the winners of 2024 The Little Prince Lifetime Achievement Award for the dedication and outstanding contribution of Luka Kecman and Jaroslaw Antoniuk to theatre for children and young people will be opened at the Gallery of Open University.

On Tuesday, September 24 at 11:30 a.m., an exhibition of puppets from the Puppet Theatre of Niš will be opened at Children's Theatre of Subotica. Featured on display will be the puppets of such exquisite artists as Milena Jeftić, Ničeva Kostić, Ivanka Getova, Ljubica Suturović, Arsen Ćosić, Stevanka Kjuvlijeva, Erika Janović, Dragana Breza, Dušan Stanković and Irina Somborac from the plays The Puppet Bible, Velimir and Bosiljka, The Wizard of Oz, The Emperor's Prisoner, Mozart, Peppercorn, The Nightingale, Alice in Wonderland, Little Ida's Flowers and The Ice Queen.

During the festival, from September 24 to 27, The Magical Stage, an exhibition by Erika Janović, will be open to public from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. This versatile artist, well-known beyond the borders of the country, takes the viewer to a magical world of fairy-tales and make-believe stories of childhood and coming of age.

As part of the Festival’s accompanying program, book promotions for A Doll from kindergarten to school group: a puppetry handbook and a collection of plays by Branka Rudman and 65 Years of Puppet Theatre of Niš are scheduled for Monday September 23 at 3.00 p.m. at Hotel Patria.

At the same venue, on Thursday, September 26 at 4:00 p.m., a promo event for the book Magic Stone and Other Fairy-Tales by Davor Dragojević, issue 18-19 of magazine Threads and Vol.14 of The Theatre for Children - an Artistic Phenomenon anthology will take place.

A discussion session with this year's winners of The Little Prince awards will be held at Hotel Patria - with Luka Kecman on Monday, September 23 at 4:00 p.m.and with Jaroslaw Antoniuk on Tuesday, September 24 at 4:00 p.m. A conversation with the winner of 2024 Oton Tomanić Award, Ewa Tomaszewska, Ph.D. will take place on Wednesday, September 25 at 4:00 p.m.

The festival’s film screenings will take place each day from September 23 to 27 at Subotica Eurocinema. The program will include: French feature film The Last Jaguar (September 23 at 11:15 a.m.), Belgian animated film The Inseparables (September 24 at 11 a.m.), Danish animated film Panda bear in Africa (September 25 at 11 a.m.), Norwegian feature film Dancing Queen (September 26 at 11 a.m.) and Czech animated film Tony, Shelly and the Magic Light.

The festival’s accompanying program will also organize 4 workshops. Jovan Caran will host a workshop titled An Entire Universe made from Cardboard which will showcase several types of a Portable Theatre - from the cartoon theatre to Japanese kamishibai and theatre utilizing 3D stage designs.

As part The Magical Stage exhibition by Erika Janović, Subotica Contemporary Art Gallery will host a short guided tour on Wednesday, September 25 at 11:15 a.m. after which the visitors will be invited to participate in a creative workshop on puppet-making. The workshop will be led by the artist herself with the assistance of Jasmina Jovančić Vidaković, a senior museum educator. During the workshop, children will create puppets of characters from fairy-tales - Little Red Riding Hood, Pinocchio and The Ugly Duckling.

Cliodhna Noonan's workshop Folklore for the earliest age is intended for professional actors of the Subotica Children's Theatre. The Irish artist will host two Silver Tree workshop performances designed to create content for the youngest audience - babies and the youngest children, as well as children aged 3 and above. All workshops will be held at The Danilo Kiš Foundation.

During 2023, puppet show director and playwright Branka Rudman, Ph.D. (an associate professor and a long-time creator of workshops for teachers, pedagogues and educators, author of the book A Doll from Kindergarten to School Group) led an online-workshop for the residents and mentors of The Cradle foster-home which resulted in a puppet-show production of Ćopić's Hedgehog’s House which will be performed at the Festival.

The official selection of the 31st International Festival of Children's Theatres Subotica (organized by Open University Subotica from September 22 to 27) will present 13 plays for children from around the world, picked by the Festival selector Zoran Đerić, Ph.D. The festival’s audience will be able to watch a diverse and imaginative selection of performances arriving to Serbia from the Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Hungary, Germany, Spain, Turkey, Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Republika Srpska - as well as performances by domestic theatres from Niš and Subotica.

Admission to all events is free!

This year’s edition of the International Festival of Children's Theatres Subotica was sponsored by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia, the Provincial Department for Culture, Public Information and Relations with Religious Communities of Vojvodina and the Municipality of Subotica.