BBB Cine-Forum
supported by the Film Center of Montenegro
Unveiling Balkan Cinema: past, present and future
Roundtable & open discussion:
#Balkan Kaleidoscope: Gazes, Cultural Identities and Nuances Through Cinema
WHEN: Friday, 13/10, 16:00 – 18:00
WHERE: IEC Tehnopolis, Nikšić
ENTRANCE: FREE
Τhis roundtable is an invitation to critically reflect on concepts such as identity(-ies) & Balkan cinema(s), to contemplate on the “gaze” drawing from diverse theoretical frameworks like postcolonial, feminist, and queer studies, examine the shifting film production landscape, and explore the role of national film centers and festivals.
In the roundtable discussion, experienced researchers, writers and practitioners of Balkan cinemas will delve into intricate and pressing inquiries regarding the cinematic landscape of the Balkan region. Moderated by Ana Grgic, Associate Professor at Babes-Bolyai University, the roundtable will unfold in the form of a dialogue between the participants, and navigate multifaceted themes fundamental to the region’s cinematic discourses, practices and historicities.
Click HERE to register!
Invited speakers:
Fabio Bego is a scholar and film programmer. His research focuses on the relations between nation state-building and (post)colonial politics in the Balkans from the late 19th century to the present. Using different sources such as archival documents, cinema, sound, blogs and social media, his work adopts a transnational perspective to unravel historical and contemporary issues. Bego’s academic research also informs his practice as a film programmer working between Italy, Belgium and Albania, where he organizes screenings, festivals and talks.
Xhejlane Tërbunja, actor, writer and Head of the Council at the Kosovo Cinematography Center. She studied acting at the University of Pristina. She is a theater and film actor, known to the general public from the satirical and sarcastic show “Vikendi” that has appeared on RTK (Radio and Television of Kosovo) for 5 years in a row. She has acted in many films, one of them being the German-Albanian coproduction “The Albanian”, in the role of “Etleva”. She has also acted in numerous TV-shows, films, and plays, and has won awards at several festivals in Kosovo, Macedonia and Albania. She recently starred in the movie “Adnan Kafazi”, in the role of Mia, which premiered in January 2022. She is part of the cast of the awarded Kosovar film “Hive”, author and moderator of the show “Veç Kesh” on ATV for the past two and a half years, and is head of the council of the Kosovo Cinematography Center. Xhejlana, or Jacky as her family and friends call her, enjoys reading and writing poetry, and is currently working on her first poetry book.
Lydia Papadimitriou is Reader (Associate Professor) in Film Studies at Liverpool John Moores University. Her research has focused on Greek and Balkan cinema, with particular emphasis on screen and media industries. She is the author of The Greek Film Musical (2006), and co-editor of Greek Cinema: Texts, Forms and Identities (2011) and Contemporary Balkan Cinema: Transnational Exchanges and Global Circuits (2020). Between 2015 and 2022 she was the principal editor of the Journal of Greek Media and Culture. She has published multiple articles and chapters on issues related to film financing, co-productions, (digital) distribution, and film festivals among others.
Eleni Sideri, Assistant Professor in the Department of Balkan, Slavic & Oriental Studies at University of Macedonia. She completed her PhD in Social Anthropology at SOAS/University of London. She did extensive field research in the Caucasus, former Yugoslavia and Greece. She taught social anthropology in various departments and has published in several languages. Her academic interests include: ethnographies of the Black Sea and the Caucasus, transnational migration and diasporas, politics of culture in cinema. In 2023, she published the monograph “Coproducing Europe: An Ethnography of Film Markets, Identity and Creativity” (Berghahn Publishers).
Dušan Kasalica is a Montenegrin director born in Nikšić. He graduated in Directing from the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Cetinje, where he currently teaches as an Assistant Professor. In 2015 his short film “Biserna obala” (A Matter of Will) was awarded the ‘Heart of Sarajevo’, while “Soa” was awarded the Special Jury Award two years later, also at the Sarajevo Film Festival. He is a participant in the Berlinale Talents program and a member of the Locarno Filmmakers Academy. He produced the film “Ti imaš noć” (You Have a Night) directed by Ivan Salatić, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2018. Dušan’s first feature film, “Elegija lovora” (Elegy of the Laurel), had its world premiere at the Sarajevo Film Festival in 2021. Dušan is a member of the European Film Academy.
Moderated by Ana Grgic, Associate Professor at Babes-Bolyai University