A silence that resonates more powerfully than any speech, a mass silence as a form of protest, a call for responsibility, for remembrance, for struggle, a call for change, a silence that opposes silence and that dignifiedly, culturally, and powerfully sends a message of hope, that is "The Loudest Silence".
“The Loudest Silence” is the silence and noise of students and all those who support the ongoing student protests in Serbia. “The Loudest Silence” is the support of journalists and directors Aleksandar Reljić, a clear stance and call expressed through the short documentary film of the same name.
The Montenegrin premiere of the engaging and emotional film took place on Thursday evening in Podgorica, at the UnderhillFest International Documentary Film Festival in the "7 Short" selection, in front of a large audience on the grounds of Njegoš Park.
"Students in Serbia, who blocked all universities in the country, did not celebrate New Year's Eve, but entered 2025 with a 15-minute silence in memory of the victims of the tragedy at the Novi Sad Railway Station, when on November 2024, 15, a canopy collapsed and killed XNUMX people (later the number of victims increased by another lost human life). The students started the fight against corruption, which they consider the cause of this tragedy, and demanded that institutions start functioning and do their job," the film's synopsis states.
Created on one of many unforgettable student evenings, “The Loudest Silence” records only a segment of a series of events, protests and blockades initiated by students in Serbia. The seemingly simple form, a story filmed in one night, nevertheless brings a much more layered context and narrative about systemic corruption, collective insecurity and the courage of young people not to agree to false normality. The event at the train station in Novi Sad is actually a symbol of the rot of a regime, and student rallies, mass gatherings and support from citizens are not symbols, but a clear stance - enough is enough! On the other hand, the street celebration of the New Year, which is not held in a festive, but in a commemorative atmosphere, shows that there is no consent to rest, not until justice is served.
Reljić thus confronts viewers with this film, as with every previous one, with a reality that many try to deny, cover up, distort, hide, forget or simply keep quiet under the cloak of institutional negligence, systemic oppression and false morality. That is why Aleksandar Reljić's "The Loudest Silence" is as much a documentary record of courage, love, empathy, rebellion, dignity, struggle, as it is a cry, a precise, bitter silence that we all need to hear and respond to.
"Thank you to all the students in Serbia who revived us and restored our faith in a better tomorrow," says Reljić in the closing credits.
The film is an ode to the dead, a declaration that they will not be forgotten, but also an ode to those who seek responsibility, change and who are aware that there is no longer room for the term “tragedy”, but rather “guilt” and “justice”. Young people, students who have uncompromisingly, consciously and willingly chosen the path against suffering, are those who do not turn their heads, do not remain silent, but emancipated and civilized with their actions and silence make noise. Reljić follows them without pathos, with deep empathy and respect, telling everyone that there is no time for pause, celebrations and apparent sensations, but for resistance and support. He does not romanticize resistance, he shows it as complex, realistic, unclear in the future, in moments of fatigue, fear, but inexorably determined and necessary for society, life and the world. The film is also a tribute to Novi Sad, a city that will certainly never be the same again, but a city for which there is hope, because this generation of students shows that the spirit of freedom and justice is not dead and that the fire of resistance still burns. They are hope.
The director's position in this film is, above all, human, activist and honorable. Because, if documentaries choose distance and appealing "objectivity", then they are not. That is why "The Loudest Silence" chooses the side of truth, the side of those who stand up, who take risks, who lose their freedom because of a spoken sentence and who are beaten, imprisoned, exhausted, but certainly not in vain.
Through the three protagonists, Bane, Mila and Lazar, but also through the mass of other people ready to stand with the students, Reljić conveys the message that “there is a crowd of us” ready to take an inexhaustible number of steps towards change and justice. That is why this film is not for popcorn and watching, but for action, for movement, for solidarity, for awakening and alarm. At the same time, it is also a lesson in perseverance and unity that deserve respect and support.
It is frightening to learn that more than half a year after the night the film was made, the system's response to the demands of young people is only imprisonment, torture, censorship. In an interview with the selector and artistic director of Underhill Vuto whom Perović, After the screening, which was accompanied by long applause, Reljić emphasized that "The Loudest Silence" is his support and form of protest.
"First of all, I have to thank you, Vuče, for inviting me and for the film being shown at the Underhill Festival. It is a great honor for me to be here and to have the opportunity to show it. From the very beginning, when the canopy fell and killed 16 people, I wanted to get involved in the story and make some contribution. I have been waiting for this moment. The students with their idea to mark New Year's Eve in this way, not as expected, but in a way that would be commemorative, seemed like the right moment to somehow tell all those layers and tragedies and that rebellion itself. This is, I must say, the beginning of that broad movement that is happening in Serbia right now. But, also, these are people who are currently on the run. The guy who ends this film spent two months in prison. Professor Marija Vasić "She was also imprisoned, went on hunger and thirst strikes, now she is at home with a baby," he said, adding that this is the reality they live in.
"This is exactly the reality of Serbia, but these people are still fighting their battle and are actually victims of the regime." Aleksandar Vučić, "...just as I think we are all hostages of that man in Serbia. In a way, this was just the beginning of everything you will see later, and these are the big protests in Kragujevac, Niš, Belgrade, this is something that is still going on and will continue, but this is also my contribution," said Reljić, whose "The Loudest Silence" was shown at one of the blockades in Serbia, as well as at the ZagrebDox festival in Croatia.
The film itself is an act of civil disobedience and its recording. “The Loudest Silence” remains a message that silence is not an option, but also that sometimes silence shouts the loudest. Because of all this, because of movement, courage, consistency, creativity, perseverance, struggle, sacrifice, faith and conviction, just as Reljić concluded in the closing credits of “The Loudest Silence”: “Thank you to all the students in Serbia who revived us and restored our faith in a better tomorrow”, because: “It is time for a new time”.
Bonus video:
