Film Festival of Tolerance Opens in Zagreb

The ninth annual Festival of Tolerance starts on Sunday in Zagreb, with a rich programme of films, exhibitions, concerts, seminars and discussions.

Founded by Hollywood producer and Auschwitz survivor Branko Lustig under the name Jewish Film Festival, the festival aims to raise awareness of the importance of dialogue and respect for diversity and perpetuate the memory of the Holocaust.

This year's festival is dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz and the 20th anniversary of the massacre in Srebrenica in eastern Bosnia.

Over seven days, more than 80 documentary, feature and animated films will be screened.

Oscar-winning Hungarian director Istvan Szabo will be a guest, promoting his latest movie, "Taking Sides". His Oscar-winning film "Mephisto" will also be screened.

The festival opens with a short animated film "Wiener Blut" ["Viennese Blood"], made by a Croatian director Zlatko Bourek, which conveys his own view of the Nazi Holocaust in Croatia.

The second film on opening night, "Walesa: Man of Hope", directed by Polish director Andrzej Wajda, tells the story of the Polish trade unionist-turned-politician and Nobel prize winner, Lech Walesa.

The festival will also show an Oscar-winning short film "The Phone Call", directed by a Britain's Mat Kirkby, which is about a woman working in a helpline call centre.

After winning over 80 international prizes, Matthew Vandyke's movie, "Not Anymore: A Story of Revolution" will show audiences the story of the conflict in Syria, as told through eyes of two young Syrians: a male rebel fighter and female journalist.

This year's festival will host the Festival Market, which...