Serbian Film Center Denies Censoring 'Anti-Serb' Movie

Scriptwriter Dimitrije Vojnov and actor Nikola Kojo have accused the Serbian Film Center of banning the filming of a film called "Mezimica" ["Favourite"] because it shows Serbs in a bad light.

The Center has denied the accusations, saying the contract for the movie was terminated by agreement and accusing the two of damaging the country's film industry.

"The Film Center of Serbia strongly denies the malicious and inaccurate allegations that it has decided to prohibit the shooting of the film 'Mezimica,'" a press release said.

It added that it had no reason to discuss the film at all, "because in the meantime the contract between the producers and the Film Center has been terminated by mutual agreement, as there were no conditions in which it was possible to continue the work on this project," the press release on Sunday added.

It continued that the movie had not been "banned", nor was any pressure exerted on any author.

The script, which has meanwhile been published online, centres on a fictional former Serbian police officer, played by Kojo, who falls for a girl from Eastern Europe and must confront a network of organ traffickers who want to harvest her heart.

Together with Kojo, the main roles were supposed to be played by the Russian actress Aglaya Tarasova and Serbian actor Milos Bikovic.

However, representatives of the association of families of Serbs kidnapped and killed in the Kosovo war protested on September 21 in front of the Film Center, which finances movies in Serbia, saying it was financing a film that represented Serbs as criminals in the wars in the former Yugoslavia and as a genocidal people.

Protesters said the film misrepresented the Serbs, and presented Serbs as...