The 32nd International Festival of Children’s Theatres – Subotica officially opened with the presentation of the Little Prince Awards to Feng Li and Zdravko Mićanović

On Sunday, September 21, the 32nd International Festival of Children's Theatres - Subotica was officially opened at the Subotica Children's Theatre venue. This year's edition of the festival runs until September 26, taking place at several locations throughout Subotica. The main programme includes 13 plays by ensembles from Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Turkey, Mexico, Colombia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina/Republika Srpska, as well as performances by local theatres from Belgrade, Novi Sad and Subotica. Admission to the entire festival programme is free.

At the beginning of the ceremony, the Oton Tomanić Festival Award - an award for theatrical reflection in the domain of theatre for children and youth - was presented to Dr. Boris P. Goldovski from Russia.

Boris P. Goldovski addressed the audience with the following words: "I’d like to thank this wonderful city for such an important and great award. This award does not belong to me only, but also to the thousands of people doing the same work across 11 Russian meridians - from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok. Long live this festival, which is renowned throughout the world."

The Little Prince Lifetime Achievement Award for outstanding contributions to the development of culture and performing arts for children was presented to Feng Li from China (in the foreign artist category) and to Zdravko Mićanović (in the domestic artists category), but also posthumously to Dr. Zoran Đerić - the long-time director and selector of the festival, who passed away last year.

The award was accepted on behalf of Zoran Đerić by his wife, composer Jasmina Mitrušić Đerić.

In his speech, Zdravko Mićanović emphasized his satisfaction that the exceptional collaboration with the festival has been on-going for 15 years. “As an assignment, I created a poster for the festival, with the students I taught at the Faculty of Applied Arts. Fortunately, my colleagues continued this tradition and I am still involved in the activity," said Mićanović. "The enthusiasm working on those posters for years with my students had given me - discovering solutions, new proposals and challenges - was something that motivated and fulfilled me. I think my presence at the festival can continue and this award gives me the motivation to keep going."

In her speech, Feng Li from China pointed out: "As the president of the Chinese Children's Drama Association and as the president of ASSITEJ China, I would first like to express my deepest respect for the International Festival of Children's Theatres - Subotica. Your work connects today's world with the future and represents a strong and influential platform for global theatre for children, opening a new chapter in future Serbian-Chinese relations, relations that are marked by the unwavering friendship between the two nations. This award is not only a recognition of my 11 years of work in children's theatre, but also a valuable recognition and tribute to Chinese children's theatre, its legacy and its development. In addition, we perceive it as a warm embrace from Serbian artists, intended for us, your Chinese colleagues. Thank you, dear friends!”

The festival jury was presented at the opening ceremony. Its decisions will be announced at the awards ceremony/closing ceremony of the festival on Friday, September 26. The jury consists of this year's recipients of the Little Prince Lifetime Achievement Award, Feng Li (China) and Zdravko Mićanović (Serbia) with Jeremy Turner from Wales.

Also presented to the public were the members of the Young Jury, consisting of pupils from local elementary schools “Ivan Goran Kovačić” and “Ivan Milutunović”: Nadia Seke Kovač, Jelisaveta Žarković, Helena Kekezović, Ognjen Radić, Roko Pijuković and Marjan Ivanković Radaković.

The performing segment of the opening ceremony featured the choir of the Primary Music School in Subotica, performing the festival theme song Let the Children Grow, conducted by Kristina Matković, as well as Subotica's Creative Studio for contemporary ballet performing a choreography by Maša Lukić.

The festival's competition program began after the opening ceremony on the National Theatre’s Jadran stage with a performance of Ballads and Romances by the Polish theatre Pinocchio from Łódź. It is a play in which the actors employ various forms and techniques in order to play around with text, movement and song.

"For our theatre, it is very important to combine two aspects – traditional theatre, poetry and drama – with contemporary perspective. Addressing young audiences is also important as we believe a gap exists in Polish theatre: while we have theatre for children and for adults, creativity aimed at young audiences falling between these two age categories is a slippery slope for many authors. We wish to bridge this gap which is why we have created this play in which we tended to present Adam Mickiewicz's ballads in a contemporary theatrical language that would appeal to young people," said Bartoš Kurovski, the coordinator for international relations and development at the Pinocchio Theatre in Łódź.

On the second day of the festival’s competition programme (Monday, September 22), the audience will have the opportunity to watch the following performances: The Barrell, a stage production by The Children's Theatre of Republika Srpska (Jadran Stage at 10:00 a.m.), I Wish to Be Normal by the Subotica Children's Theatre (at the venue, 12:00 p.m.) and Boxlife by the Their Unparalleled Majesties Grand Royal Tabletop Theatre Company from Switzerland (Jadran Stage at 5:00 p.m.).

The 16th edition of the Research Forum for Children and Youth Theatre Art will begin at the Subotica City Library, lasting to September 25. Curated by Dr. Marijana Prpa Fink, this year’s Forum will focus on researching the topic of Different Approaches to Aesthetics in Theatre for Children and Youth. The forum is organized by the Open University Subotica and the Theatre Museum of Vojvodina.

On Monday, September 22, at 1:15 p.m., an exhibition honouring Feng Li and Zdravko Mićanović - the recipients of the Little Prince Lifetime Achievement Award - will be open for public at the Gallery of Open University. The exhibition will present milestones of Feng Li's career - her innovative approach, dedication, persistence in education and raising the level of theatre literacy and her influence on young audiences – coupled with 23 panels of Mićanović's "2D plays for children", artwork published in children's magazines. At 4 p.m., Patria Hotel will host a discussion session with Feng Li from China, the winner of the Little Prince Award. As part of the festival's film programme, a screening of the animated film Tony, Shelly and the Magic Light is scheduled at the Subotica’s Eurocinema theatre, at noon.

Traditionally, the International Festival of Children's Theatre - Subotica is supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia, the Provincial Secretariat for Culture, Public Information and Relations with Religious Communities and the Municipality of Subotica, whereas The Vojvodina Theatre Museum is acting as a partner in the festival's production. The executive producer of the festival is the Open University Subotica.