We were particularly happy to attend the event, as Greece was this year awarded with the 1st Charlemagne Youth Prize for the initiative “Europe on the Ground”, a youth media project that aims to strengthen the European awareness and promote multilingualism. The 2nd Charlemagne Youth Prize was awarded to a Czech Republic Initiative, “Europe meets school”, a fresh idea that aimed at ”consolidating the process of European integration”, as was commented by the former EP President Hans-Gert Pöttering. The 3rd prize was given to a Hungarian unconventional film project “Cycle me home”, a documentary road film made by film students and bike lovers travelling by bike from Madrid to Budapest.

The first prize was awarded by EP president Martin Schulz, who in his speech highlighted that “There is an increasing awareness of how much we depend on each other, how we are intertwined with each other. The Greek winner of the Charlemagne Youth Prize is helping to create a more European public.” For two consecutive years Greece wins a Charlemagne Youth prize demonstrating the existence of European spirit in the country’s young people that is continuously growing despite the difficult situation the country faces. All the initiatives and projects that participate to the Charlemagne Youth Prize contest show the necessity for an aware and united European public.

BBB is part of Microsoft donation program and particularly is has been offered software material of 45.000 dollars in 2012. Our team had the chance to learn more about the latest technologies and the ways they can boost NGOs’ development even within a difficult economic situation like the one we are experiencing nowadays. In addition, we had the chance to discuss with local NGOs and Microsoft’s specialists. Presentations were held by Mr. Ernst Jan Stigter, CEO of Microsoft Hellas, Mr. Peter Michel Heilmann, President of EuroCharity, Peter Economides, Brand Strategist as well as many personalities from the NGO sector. Interesting new technological ideas as well as case studies triggered our people and inspired us.

Balkans Beyond Borders through its website: www.balkansbeyondborders.eu wants to motivate young people to participate to its activities, learn about other cultural and academic opportunities arisen, get informed about cultural events that take place in the region and broaden their horizons.

Behind the website of BBB, there is a team that works hard and in full involvement consisting of Fotis Routsis, Web designer, Konstantinos Tsolakidis, Graphic Designer and Vasiliki Maltasoglou, Content Director. They are fully engaged for the best result and focused on how to motivate young people through the website. Www.balkansbeyondborders.eu is a means of communication with BBB friends and our expanding audience.

Until 14 of May we are expecting your support by voting us at http://www.e-awards.gr. You get subscribed and select Balkans Beyond Borders as the Best NGO website. The more the votes the more probable to be the winner in our category.

BBB will continue to be active and involved to multidimensional activities in order to facilitate its goals and become known to more and more young people in the Balkan region.

vimeo.com/14992892

The film tells the story of young girl Alisa who is being courted by a boy she met in her childhood and  the rules that they have to respect if they are to marry with the community’s blessing.

From a feminist point of view, the film speaks less about a given community and its specificity and more about any traditional society that lives accordingly to the “golden rule” of patriarchy: the man holds all the power, he is the creator and the guardian of the law; the women are there to obey, to have and to raise children.

The film may try to edulcorate this sad truth by romanticizing the reality the women are living in: of course, there is love, there is friendship, there are dreams of independence and there are some who made it on their own. But the social system itself remains the same because like any other system, it relies on its rigid rules to survive. The fact that the community is a Roma community only makes things even more complicated for its least powerful members: young women.

The film tries to suggest that for Alisa and her boyfriend there is still a chance to live happily ever after since they are young and in love and probably will leave their community and live elsewhere. There they may live different lives from those of their parents, but this is a Disney-like happy ending that is far from being the reality of most women in Alisa’s community. Their lives will still be written by men, their identity will still be centered around their virginity and later in life around motherhood. “To become love” with a nice guy and getting away from the iron hand of the father may work for some and for a while, but what happens when the nice guy becomes the husband and the father of another girl? If the woman he married “gave herself” to him before marriage he will make sure that the same thing does not happen with his daughter. Like any other man for whom tradition is more important than rationality he will want to be the only exception from the rule and he will punish any other attempt to break it.

The film emphasizes one important aspect concerning gender roles in traditional communities. First of all, in most traditional societies, women are generally seen as having two main roles: mothers and whores. The good girl-bad girl dichotomy is of great importance in establishing, legitimizing and maintaining male supremacy. Only if they are divided and only if they choose without really choosing one of these options, can women be actually put down. By doing so, the patriarchal system makes sure not only that there is a constant victim and scapegoat for any social trouble, but also that the good girls are there to watch their own virtues and at the same time report back and eventually punish the bad girls. The bad girls are, of course, the ones for whom sexual freedom, or any kind of freedom, has such importance that it made them break the rules.

I began by saying that the film is not about one given community but about any community which structures itself around hierarchical relationships among its members. Love, finally has Roma characters, but it could just as well be about Romanians, Russians, Greeks and let’s not fool ourselves, any other Western or Eastern traditional community.

Oana Zamfirache holds a Master Degree in Philosophy from the University of Bucharest. She is a Ph.D candidate in Philosophy working on a thesis for feminism and pornography. She has also translated several books: Clear light of day, by Anita Desai, Paradise and Jazz by Toni Morrison.

Intern –

Balkans Beyond Borders is currently looking to recruit a passionate and dynamic young person for a 6 month period internship to assist the Management Board. The selected candidate will work from his/her home and earn valuable experience in project management and administration.  He/she will have the chance to cooperate with a creative multinational team. 

Introduction

Balkans Beyond Borders (BBB) is a nongovernmental organisation that seeks to promote youth mobility and youth cooperation in the Balkans through “dialogue”, “interaction” and “innovative learning”. Using the Art of short film and new media, Balkans Beyond Borders wants to boost intercultural dialogue and interaction among the young people in the Balkans.  (www.balkansbeyondborders.eu)

Tasks and Responsibilities

• Provide administrative support to the management board on daily basis;
• Take, check and distribute agendas and minutes of all meetings as required;
• Organize meetings, set agendas, produce reports, PowerPoint presentations, tables and charts as required;
• Manage external requests and inquiries addressed to the management board;
• Write autonomously without supervision

Profile:

• Advanced university degree, preferably in communication studies
• Excellent communication and presentation skills
• Team-oriented, communicative and collaborative personality
• Fluent in written and spoken English
• Excellent computer skills with very good knowledge of Word and Excel
• Accurate, precise, eye to the detail
• Good organisational skills
• Flexible and proactive approach to execute tasks
• Meet deadlines
• Able to work with minimum supervision

What we offer:

• A multitasking job in a motivated team of professionals
• Multinational environment
• Flextime and flexplace job
• Professional experience on NGO management

Deadline for submitting your application is 5 May 2012.

If you are interested to work with us, please send your CV and cover letter to infobalkansbeyondborders.eu mentioning “Intern – Management Board Assistant” in the subject line.

Note that BBB will only be able to reply to successful applications. The successful candidates will be asked to join a Skype interview. Starting day is 10 May 2012.

During the whole event DJ Sonja Kovacev will entertain the audience with her music at the lobby of REX. Also, members of the BBB team will be more than happy to speak and inform the audience about the organisation and the opportunities it gives to young creative people.

With this event in Belgrade we celebrate the carnation of the BBB idea, considering that the 1^st edition of the Balkans Beyond Borders Short Film Festival took place at REX Cultural Center in 2010. By watching the films the audience will discover aspects of the region’s contemporary culture and perceptions. We invest on young people and young creators. We want to inspire you and we need to be inspired by you.

For more information regarding the event please contact our Ambassador in Serbia Ms. Jelena Beslin at  jelena.beslin@​balkansbeyondborders.eu.

The Programme

19:30 – Doors open

19:45 – Projection (Part 1)

20:45 – Break

21:00 - Projection (Part 2)

21:55 – End of projections music goes louder

23:30 – End of event

Check the analytical programme of the BBB event

Ticket: 100Dinars

Consequently, the 3d edition of Balkans Beyond Borders Short Film Festival entitled “TALK TO ME” will change date but not place. The festival will take place in Tirana and the exact date of it will be announced soon on www.balkansbeyondborders.eu. The 3d edition of Balkans Beyond Borders Short Film Festival celebrates Balkan diversity, multilingualism and communication. The main objective of the project is to invite and motivate young people to create short films through which they reflect on their region’s past, current and future situation. The aim is to get a better grasp of how they relate to communication in general, as well as to the cultural and linguistic diversity in the region.

“TALK TO ME” is a call-to-action for young people to engage actively. It is about communication in all its forms: either through language or other means of expression. The Balkans are known for their culture, traditions and multilingualism so show us the Balkan diversity that surrounds you in your everyday life. Grab your camera and talk to your parents, your friends, your lover, your neighbour, your enemy, talk to the Balkans and talk to the world. Multilingualism & communication are around us and beyond us. Let them inspire you.

…So don’t lose time and TALK TO ME

Besides lectures, the audience had the opportunity to take part in various workshops organized during the first day of the Festival. On the second day, several panel discussions on the topic of Open Source, Data Gathering or Art and the Internet were organized, hosting the names such as Nicholas Felton, Jurg Lehni, Karsten Schmidt or Rafael Rozendaal.

For those who love the art of short film, the screenings of the Onedotzero’s videos, the extraordinary Champagne Valentine’s creations and the well-known London based animated studio Nexus which presented its work to the Resonate audience would be strongly suggested.

Jelena Beslin, the BBB Ambassador of Serbia, had the chance to participate at this new experience on the behalf of BBB. After her participation she states that this kind of festival and ideas are very refreshing and inspiring for the audience. “I hope the next edition of the Festival will push the boundaries even further and introduce the Serbian audience and the quests from the region and beyond to more interesting new media artists and new trends in this sphere.”

Balkans Beyond Borders provides to its team with opportunities that can build up their skills and capacities. Participating in events like Resonate, gives motivation, inspiration and efficiency at work.

In the links below you can watch part of the festival

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/49348730/MVI_8022.AVI

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/49348730/MVI_8027.AVI

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/49348730/MVI_8007.AVI

Balkans Beyond Borders invites you to the FILM/MUSIC event “Let’s talk about last year’s big bad crises”.

The event will take place at REX Cultural Center, Belgrade on 6 of April 2012 starting at 19.30 am..

The projected films are a selection from the Balkans Beyond Borders Short Film Festival 2011 and the Film Making Workshops 2011 that had as title “Who’s afraid of the Big Bad Crises?”. 

Part 1- 19:45

Democracy is to Choose, animation, Vid Rajin, Serbia, 2009

“Democracy is to Choose’ presents the sins of our society, and its possible atonement. It was part of the global Democracy Video Challenge competition (organised by the US State Department), and one of the three European Region finalists in 2009. Since then it has been screened at workshops and festivals in the United States, Sweden, Serbia and Kosovo.

A Glass of Wine and Nothing More, fiction, Cristina Groşan, Romania, 2010

What happens when you have questions by the time you should have found the answers? How do you put society on hold? Five girls, one guy. They’re looking for love. He doesn’t know what he’s looking for. Sputnik (A Glass of Wine and Nothing More) talks about the romantic encounters of Mihai, the women that surround him, and Russian satellites.

The Camion, Animation, Ilir Kaso, Albania, 2009

The story moves between the present and the past of a passionate man  whose memories keep alive his dream, desires, and passion.

Regaining the Face, experimental documentary, Pance Prendzov, BBB Film Making Workshop, Skopje, 2011

The film is about the crisis of the people that were trapped in the biggest earthquake in Skopje which occurred on July 26, 1963 and killed over 1,070 people, injured between 3,000 and 4,000 and left more than 200,000 people homeless. About 80 percent of the city was destroyed.

The film is a visual representation of the period after the earthquake, how Skopje is rebuild and how Skopje and its citizens are overcoming crises.

Marios and the Raven, fiction, Yiannis Bougioukas, Greece, 2010

On his fifty-third birthday, Marios seems to have everything he ever wished for, until a bird dropping from the blue sky reveals his happiness to be far more fragile than it seemed.

Part 2- 21:55

Zdrăngăneală (how to speak without words), video art, Andreea Muscurel, Romania, 2010

Miscommunication leads to misunderstandings, which often leads to anger, which often leads to crisis. To avoid crisis we must learn to stop the rhetoric and go back to the subtleties of human communication.  This experimental dance short explores the idea that we can have entire conversations without saying a single word. Armed with her tap shoes and noise-maker, dancer Lejla Muhic playfully interacts with the neighbourhood of Bjelave,Sarajevo.

Burek, fiction- experimental, Fran Atopos Conte, BBB Film Making Workshop, Skopje, 2011

Burek is the invented story of a man living in the Bazar area in Skopje. Bazar is known for its large Albanian muslim population. Its goal is to show how culture is like food in the Balkans, different names for same ingredients, same names for slightly different foods: like Burek, which you can find everywhere in the Balkan area, but never quite the same as the one from your hometown. Burek is the Balkan pizza: each one makes it according to his/her background.

The Crevice, Experimental, Ira Dika, Albania, 2010

Rea is a young girl who lives alone in an abandoned house. With the little money that she’s got, she decides to go and buy something to eat. She’s getting ready putting on a fake smile, earplugs and closing her eyes with two stickers. Before she goes out one of the stickers falls into a crevice. When this happens, she sees the real world from the outside like she has never seen it before.

ESCARGOT. Animation, Manuel Šumberac, Croatia, 2010

Two armies of snails fight for the same purpose, the last bud on the stem, but the bud belongs to another world ….

Love At Last, fiction/documentary, Stasha Tomic, Serbia, 2011

Alisa and Verica are best friends since childhood, but when faced with the most important decision for Romani women of marriage and sexual maturation they make entirely different decisions. Love at last is a docu-fiction love story about two young women and their coming of age in a heavily tabooed Roma community in southernSerbia. Love At Last was shot on authentic locations with an entirely Roma non-actor youths cast.

The Pond, mockumentar, Dimitris Argyriou, Greece, 2010

What does the EU have in common with a duck pond? More than meets the eye…

Amateur, fiction, Rudi Prifti, Albania, 2011

The story of an old musician who is afraid of leaving nothing behind him. So he turns  his attention to  a young pianist,  classifying his work.

We hope you enjoy the night!

You can apply at: http://preparinggloballeaders.com/index.php?id=conference-application

The “Preparing Global Leaders Summit” is a premiere seven day program for the best students and young professionals in the world. Participants will take short courses on democracy and authoritarianism, international and human security, social media, technology, journalism, leadership and communication from a distinguished, award-winning faculty. Summit delegates will demonstrate their skills and knowledge through media, speech, parliamentary, and conflict resolution simulations and competitions. The program seeks to prepare aspiring global scholar-leaders with the tools that are necessary for effective leadership in an increasingly complex world.

The summit is organized by Alexander Abashkin, Executive Director, and Sam Potolicchio, Academic Director, within the framework of The Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA) and with some of the very best faculty from Georgetown University (USA). The faculty members for the Summit are Sam Potolicchio (Georgetown University), Marc Howard (Georgetown University), Lise Howard (Georgetown University) and Garrett Graff (The Washingtonian and Georgetown University).

The Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA) is Russia’s largest educational institution, holding a leading position in social sciences and humanities. It is one of Russia’s top ten universities, providing a wide range of undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs and offering guest lectures by prominent Russian business and political leaders.

Georgetown University (established in 1789) is one of the world’s leading academic and research institutions, offering a unique educational experience. Located in Washington, D.C., Georgetown offers students a distinct opportunity to learn, experience and understand more about the world. Georgetown is renowned for training leaders. The academic director of PGLS teaches for a program that offers public leadership training in Washington D.C.