Belgrade

July 25 2007
Nexus Media is now deeply embroiled in all things democracy related. With the commitment and support of Smiley Guy Studios in Toronto, the Pillars of Freedom project has matured to become an interactive game and television experience that is like no other in the world. Originally developed with Canada in mind, we can now see that it is flexible enough to be adaptable to the circumstances in any country that holds democratic values. It is the perfect companion to the two one-hour television documentaries that we are developing called Exporting Democracy.

In May, that project took us to Belgrade, in Serbia.

We had arranged to visit a number of Canadian projects there that are promoting democracy. Belgrade is situated at the confluence of two rivers,the Sava and the Danube. It is also at the confluence of two cultures, east and west. The rivers were calm when we were there but the conflict of cultures was still palpable. Kosovo remains front page news and its independence persists as an issue, much as Quebec does in Canada.

You can get a sense of things by
talking with cab drivers. It can be
dangerous in Belgrade though. Off
came the glasses and the cab was
put on automatic pilot while the
driver posed for the shot.


We stayed in an apartment near downtown. It had a kind of spy-who-came-in-from-the-cold feel to it. Drab cement walls. Bare light bulbs. Unseen creaks and voices. But it was more than adequate, except for one thing. No toilet paper. So there we were on Sunday night. No toilet paper. No idea where we were in the city. No local currency in our wallets. And no facility with the language( and I don’t think gestures would have been well-interpreted).

But of course we managed.



I think democracy is a
work in progress in all
countries. In Serbia,
perhaps there is more
work to do than here
in Canada, but to our
credit, Canada is try-
ing to help with some
long-term fundamen-
tals( e.g. Rule of Law,
education) and with
some short-term but, very important, issues(e.g. helping women and children who have been displaced by the war). In my view this is exactly the way it should be, for one without the other will have no effect.

One could sense that the path to democracy will be difficult here. The people that we talked to missed the calm and the security of the Tito years. There was a weariness with the struggle to find a shape for the future that allowed people
to get on with their lives. And with this there is a certain kind of vulnerability.


Serbia, you have our best wishes.


Exporting Democracy will next take us to Vietnam and to Tanzania.