03/11/2023 - The gathering is aimed at facilitating collaborations between the younger filmmaking generations in Italy and the Balkans

From 7 to 12 November, Rome’s Casa del Cinema and Nuovo Cinema Aquila will be the setting for a film event unlike any other: the sixth edition of the Balkan Film Festival. The gathering is based on an initiative put forward by the Italian-Balkan Association Occhio Blu and has the ambitious aim of promoting "La Via del Cinema" [“The Path of Cinema”], which is a film-centred dialogue between Italy and the Balkans aimed at faciliating collaboration between the younger generations of filmmakers in the two regions, and strengthening services by carrying out joint projects.

The Balkan Film Festival involves Balkan productions hailing from Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Albania, Greece and Turkey. The diverse range of participants helps to enrich the festival with protagonists, themes and debates reflecting the region’s cultural and social complexity. This year’s edition will offer up a series of cultural events, including a panel discussion on content and strategies for Balkan cinema, involving sector experts, and a focus session on Albanian cinema.

The films in competition are Kaymak [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Milcho Manchevski, The Land Within [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Fisnik Maxville
film profile] by Fisnik Maxville, R.M.N. [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Cristian Mungiu
interview: Judith State
film profile] by Cristian Mungiu, Behind the Haystacks [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Asimina Proedrou, Moja Vesna [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sara Kern
film profile] by Sara Kern, The Naked Truth about Zhiguli Band [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Victor Bojinov, A Ballad [+see also:
film review
interview: Aida Begic
film profile] by Aida Begic, Have You Seen This Woman? [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Dušan Zorić and Matija Gluš…
film profile] by Dušan Zorić and Matija Gluščević, Snow and the Bear [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Selcen Ergun
film profile] by Selcen Ergun, A Cup of Coffee and New Shoes On [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Gentian Koçi
film profile] by Gentian Koçi and Safe Place [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Juraj Lerotić
film profile] by Juraj Lerotić.

The festival is also set to welcome an impressive array of directors and filmmakers hailing from the Balkans, notably including Milcho Manchevski, Juraj Lerotic, Asimina Proedrou, Aida Begic, Fisnik Maxville, Gentian Koçi, Edmond Budina, Aleksandar Vujović and many others.

Special events on the agenda include a "Film Business School" masterclass, developed by Mimmo Calopresti, which will introduce participants to the practical and commercial side of the film industry, and the festival is also set to host an international workshop involving Balkan film centres, Italian film commissions, Creative Europe and leading players in the film industry. The workshop will look to discuss the problems and conditions impacting co-productions and to promote collaboration between the two regions.

One of the most significant developments this year, however, is the section dedicated to 10 short films hailing from a variety of Balkan countries. The aim of the line-up is to attract Rome’s younger audiences and to tell Balkan stories which resonate with these youngsters’ own lives.

The jury for this year’s edition is composed of Elma Tataragic, Roland Sejko, Amedeo Pagani, Wilma Labate and Gregor Božič, film sector professionals who’ll be tasked with assessing the films in competition and awarding the prizes up for grabs.

(Translated from Italian)