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Italy

Mario Bova • Director, Euro Balkan Film Festival

“The festival was born as a response to the challenges faced by the film industry, focusing directly on the growth of co-productions and distribution”

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- The president of the Associazione Occhio Blu and director of Rome's festival dedicated to cinema hailing from the Balkans, talks to us about its new edition

Mario Bova • Director, Euro Balkan Film Festival

Mario Bova, president of the Associazione Occhio Blu and director of the Euro Balkan Film Festival, dedicated to cinema hailing from the Balkans, talks to us about its new edition, which will take place in Rome from 6-12 November.

Cineuropa: What is the main theme of this year's festival, and how is it reflected in the selection of films on the programme?
Mario Bova: As with every edition, the Euro Balkan Film Festival offers an important opportunity to reflect on Balkan society, fostering dialogue between the region's film industries and Italy, and promoting European co-productions with strong Balkan participation. This year, the focus is on the surprising productivity and thematic richness of contemporary Balkan cinema, particularly by female directors and young talents. We want to explore the innovative cultural messages of these auteurs, supporting and disseminating meaningful interpretations, original analyses and strategic proposals for collaboration.

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How does the festival promote cultural and cinematic collaboration between Balkan countries and the rest of Europe? Are there any specific initiatives planned?
The festival acts on multiple fronts to create economic, cultural and educational synergies. We facilitate meetings between the film industry, schools and academies from both Italy and the Balkans, encouraging discussions about the financial and organisational challenges that hinder co-productions and the development of a Euro-Balkan network. One of the festival's main events is a workshop featuring key Balkan and Italian guests from the film industry, including Amra Bakšić Čamo, Fatos Berisha, Amedeo Pagani and Enrico Vannucci, among others.

The Cinemosaic project is another practical tool to encourage co-production between young Italian and Balkan filmmakers, bringing together prestigious film schools to form mixed crews for the creation of short films. The film selection clearly reflects this spirit of co-production, as shown by Excursion [+see also:
film review
interview: Una Gunjak
film profile
]
by Una Gunjak, a Bosnian director also trained in Italy, whose film will be released in Italian cinemas shortly after its festival screening. Additionally, female directors will play a central role in various events, with presentations of their films and thematic panel discussions featuring Balkan and international personalities such as Una Gunjak, Kumjana Novakova, Sofia Exarchou, Vanja Juranić and Luana Bajrami.

What are the main challenges faced by a festival dedicated to Balkan cinema in a European context, and how is the festival working to overcome them?
The event was born as a response to the challenges faced by the film industry, focusing directly on the growth of co-productions and distribution. To encourage co-productions, we work to raise awareness of policies related to the creation of public funds, promoting initiatives that offer production assistance and ensuring updates on funding opportunities, particularly European ones. As for distribution, our commitment is reflected in the strong promotion of the competing films and their creators, as well as the cultural context that each work represents. Promoting support policies, which will be discussed in the workshop, is essential.

An additional challenge is developing audiences and visibility for these films. For too long, Italian audiences have shown limited interest in Balkan films and culture, owing to a historical cultural disconnection. Our festival is aware of this issue and, this year, has intensified efforts to engage the media, social platforms and prominent figures from both the Italian and Balkan cinematic landscapes, such as Una Gunjak, Luana Bajrami, Sofia Exarchou, Vanja Juranić, Kumjana Novakova, Aida Begić, Anna Bonaiuto, Cristina Comencini, Steve Della Casa, Leonardo Di Costanzo,Dina Iordanova, Saverio La Ruina, Mario Martone, Paolo Mereghetti, Selman Nacar, Roland Sejko, Elma Tataragic,Mimmo Calopresti, Ines Vasiljevic and Graziella Bildesheim.

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(Translated from Italian)

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