Serbian gay pride movie surprise hit in Balkans.

The Parade has been a hit in the Balkans despite entrenched homophobia in the region.

A rom-com about gay pride has become a surprise hit in the Balkans, despite the movie's director being the target of homophobic violence.
The Parade, which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival this week, is about a gay couple struggling to organize a pride event in the Serbian capital, Belgrade.
But while critics showered the movie with plaudits and it has proved a box office hit in the Balkan region, Serbian director Srdjan Dragojevic has received a hostile reception from the region's ultra-nationalist groups.
Even before the movie's release in cinemas, anti-gay opposition called for a boycott and Dragojevic had his car windows smashed in protest.
Dragojevic told the AFP news agency he was pleased with the film's success in the Balkans and said it was a sign attitudes were changing in the notoriously homophobic region.
Mima Simic, a Croatian gay rights activist, told Sarajevo-based Dani magazine the film shows the Balkans are beginning to understand that 'it's not really OK to beat up gays.'
'But above all it's a cunning and calculated film whose main goal is to regain audiences of former Yugoslavia and win Western markets.
'The subject of gay rights as a symbol of transition is a gold mine that Dragojevic is fully taking advantage of.'
More than 500,000 people have seen Dragojevic's comedy in all six ex-Yugoslav republics.
The Parade includes footage of the violence that erupted when right-wing activists disrupted a 2010 gay pride march in Belgrade.
More than 100 police were injured. Authorities in Serbia then banned a gay rights parade last year citing safety concerns.

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