Connecting the dots: Balkan Cultural Encounters
BBB short film screening
Balkans Beyond Borders has the pleasure to participate in Connecting the dots: Balkan Cultural Encounters, a cultural event celebrating art and dialogue, while forging connections and fostering unity in our common Balkan neighborhood. The event will take place on Saturday, 18th of November 2023 in Timișoara, Romania, from 18:00 to 20:30.
Connecting the Dots: Balkan cultural encounters has invited diverse artists, intellectuals, and enthusiasts from across the region in Timișoara, one of the three European Capitals of Culture in 2023, to illuminate the intricate web of connections that define the Balkans and Europe, through storytelling, live music, poetry, and riveting discussions. While the political landscape often stands in stark contrast and lack of cooperation and unity, culture is undeniably the beating heart of our societies, a realm where connections thrive, vibrancy pulsates, and enchantment dances at every turn.
Vasiliki Maltasoglou, Festival Director of the Balkans Beyond Borders Short Film Festival, co-founder of Balkans Beyond Borders and cultural manager (Greece) is invited to take part in a discussion on Balkan cooperation through arts and culture, alongside two other women, namely Vladica Jovanović, human rights activist (Serbia) and Aida Šošić, musician (Romania/Bosnia and Herzegovina), who will share their experiences and illustrate how their life trajectories are “connecting the dots” in the Balkan region. Lidja Dimkovska, poet, novelist and translator (North Macedonia/Slovenia) and Radu Vancu, poet, scholar and translator, will facilitate the discussion: “Can literature and transcultural ties bring us closer in times of polarization and intolerance?”, while Miruna Vlada (Romania), will delve into the power of poetry.
The event will culminate in a special screening session curated by Balkans Beyond Borders Short Film Festival. We are thrilled to travel to Timisoara and present award winning and exceptional short films by young filmmakers from the Balkan region. The short films are a selection from the 14th BBB SFF screening programme, which was held in Niksic, Montenegro this October.
Dora | Ana Ćulum | Montenegro | 2023 | 12’
Winner of the BBB Audience Award
After losing her husband, a widow feels lost and unsure about her life. However, when a lost dog of the same breed as her late pet visits her, she gains inspiration for a new business venture and rediscovers a forgotten passion that gives her a renewed sense of purpose.
I don’t care | Marinela Prifti | Albania | 2022 | 5’
Nikol is a 19 year old girl. She uploads videos online in which she tries to teach people how to do stuff in their everyday life while using only one hand. Her videos are always filled with negative comments that really affect her psychologically but she tries her best to brush them off.
Sigurt | Ben Gorani, Vlera Dani | Kosovo | 2022 | 5’
The story of abuse, a young girl experienced. How a few turns of events made her home an unsafe and toxic place.
Lupus in fabula | Vuk Palibrk, Tanja Brzaković | Serbia | 2022 | 7’
The animated film “Lupus in fabula” was inspired by a children’s poem “Once Upon a Time there was a Lion”, by the famous Serbian children’s poet Dusko Radovic. Our hero, Wolf, is faced with existential problems of the modern age, dreaming of being more adapted, more secure and protected. By wishing to be what he thinks is his better self, he’s forgetting that by succumbing to this wish he’s at the same time losing the only thing that truly matters – his freedom.
Only the devil hates water | Lidija Mojsovska | North Macedonia | 2022 | 17’30’’
Winner of the BBB Best Film Award
Boris and Kira’s friendship is put to a test, when Boris, influenced by his grandmother, starts suspecting that his friend is a representation of the Devil. This will make him doubt her goodness, until Kira reveals to him the sorrowful truth about her life.
The event is organized by Association INK – Innovation Needs Knowledge and the Centre for European Studies SNSPA, in cooperation with West University of Timișoara, with the support of the European Fund for the Balkans through its beeEFB Programme.