(Minghui.org) The 32nd Sarajevo Film Festival was held August 14 to 21, 2026, in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Falun Dafa practitioners from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Croatia, and Montenegro traveled to Sarajevo to raise awareness about the persecution of Falun Dafa in China and collect signatures on a petition calling to end the egregious human rights violations.

Sarajevo is a unique environment where three national identities coexist: Bosnians, who are Muslim; Serbs, who are Orthodox Christians; and Croats, who are Catholic. Heavily damaged during the Bosnian War in the 1990s, Sarajevo is now a tourist attraction and a must-see destination for anyone traveling in the Balkans.

Many people visited the city during the 32nd Sarajevo Film Festival. (Minghui.org)

The 32nd Sarajevo Film Festival was held August 14 to 21, 2026. (Minghui.org)

Considered the premier film festival in southern Europe, the Sarajevo Film Festival was founded during the siege of Sarajevo (1992 to 1996) as a form of resistance against violence and the Bosnian War. After the war, it promoted culture and reconciliation among the three faiths that coexist in this unique environment. Today, it’s the largest and most important film festival in the region and a major cultural event for both Sarajevo and all of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Falun Dafa practitioners from Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro demonstrate the Falun Dafa exercises in front of the main festival hall. (Minghui.org)

People Condemn the Persecution

Haris signs the G7+7 petition. (Minghui.org)

Haris stopped and spoke with practitioners. When he learned about the persecution in China, he said, “Everything that is abnormal is now normal, and what is normal is abnormal.

“The soul seeks,” he added, in support of the practitioners persevering in their faith.

A woman from Sarajevo who previously lived in New York said she’d seen Dafa practitioners do the exercises. She said the exercise music is pleasant but she never knew what Falun Dafa is. When she noticed practitioners doing the exercises in Sarajevo she wished to learn more. A practitioner talked to her about Falun Dafa and directed her to the webinars held once or twice a month, where one can learn the Falun Dafa exercises for free and receive assistance if one wishes to practice. She said she was very interested and would join.

A woman from Italy stopped to ask what was being practiced. She’d never heard of Falun Dafa before, but she had tried qigong exercises in the past. She remarked that she felt great energy coming from Falun Dafa practitioners. The woman accepted a flyer about Falun Dafa and said she felt that this was a predestined opportunity. She said she would contact the practice site in Milan to learn the exercises.

Alen and Anel try the exercises with practitioners. (Minghui.org)

Some people, including children, wished to try the exercises. Some simply imitated the movements from a distance, while others learned them from practitioners.

Passersby were happy to take flyers. (Minghui.org)

During the two days that practitioners held their event many people were interested in learning about Falun Dafa and the persecution. They readily talked with practitioners and took flyers.