16th BBB Short Film Festival – DISTORToΠia – How do you mirror reality
6-9 November 2025
Istanbul, Turkey
The 16th edition of Balkans Beyond Borders Short Film Festival titled DISTORToΠia – How do you mirror reality travels to Istanbul from the 6th to the 9th of November inviting filmmakers and audience to a BBB cinematic and interactive experience.
Building upon the illusory reality of life under social constructs, personal struggles, and the pursuit of hope, the festival features a collection of 32 short films by young filmmakers from the Balkan region and beyond giving their own interpretation to the questions: Do we construct illusions to create our own utopia? Who controls the narratives that shape our understanding of justice, identity, and power? The Jury of the 16th edition of Balkans Beyond Borders Short Film Festival who will award the winners consists of Damla Sönmez (Turkey), actress and producer, Bogdan Mureșanu (Romania) writer, director and producer, and Mia Avdagić, Mia Avdagić, Producer (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Academic & Talents Sarajevo Manager.
The competition programme also includes a new category titled BBB Filmexploring AI (Balkans and beyond) to creatively experience the potential that AI offers. The non competition programme consists of: the BBB Beyond (international programme), the BBB Focus: Palestine in cooperation with the Athens Palestinian Film Festival to provide a platform that highlights Palestinian stories, perspectives, and creativity, the BBB & co: Balkan and Adriatic snapshot and the BBB & co: Friends and more. The screenings will take place at Beyoglu cinema and at Uskudar cultural center.
Screenings Programme timetable:
Thursday 6/11
Beyoglu Cinema
19:00 – 20:00 → Opening welcome drinks
Screenings
20:00 → Opening Ceremony
20:30 – 22:30 → Competition programme: Unexpected incidents’ distortions
Friday 7/11
Beyoglu Cinema
17:00 – 18:15 → BBB FOCUS: Palestine
18:30 – 19:15 → BBB & co Friends and more
19:30 – 21:30 → Competition programme: Trauma distortions
Saturday 8/11
Uskudar municipality – Bağlarbaşı Culture Center
14:30 – 16:00 → BBB Beyond
18:00 – 19:45 → Competition programme: Reflections of Hope
20:00 – 21:30 → Competition programme: Forced adaptation reflections
Sunday 9/11
Beyoglu Cinema
17:00 – 18:45 → Competition programme: TOPOS reflections
19:00 – 20:45 → BBB & co: Balkan and Adriatic snapshot
21:00 → Awards ceremony
The 16th BBB Short Film Festival offers a wide range of parallel activities such as the 2-day BBB Cine-Forum ΙΙΙ titled Exploring the multiple opportunities in filmmaking from film development to AI. in collaboration with the Galata University in Istanbul. Part of the parallel activities is for one more time the BBB in the neighborhood offering an anthropological insight on the practices of drinking coffee and its role in our everyday life, throughout an intense workshop. With rapid ethnography, attendees will get the chance to visualise and present the act of coffee-sharing in the neighborhoods of Istanbul.
The BBB Cine-Forum III programme consists of:
Friday, 07/11, at Galata University
- 12:00 – 12:45 → Round table: AI opportunities in filmmaking
- 14:00 – 15:15 → BBB in the Neighborhood: ‘Coffee, Memory & Image’ a visual anthropology workshop and marathon
Saturday, 08/11, at Bağlarbaşı Culture Center
- 13:00 – 14:30 → Masterclass ‘From shorts to feature’ with Emin Alper
Sunday, 09/11, at Beyoglu Cinema
- 13:00 – 14:00 → Sarajevo Talents Workshop with Mia Avdagic – “Unlocking the Potential of Talents Sarajevo: Crafting Your Path in Regional & International Cinema”
- 14:15 – 15:15 → Round Table: Film festivals programming
For the second consecutive time, the BBB Short Film Festival expands its audience to the Balkans and beyond through its mutual screening titled BBB Crossborder screening. This screening will take place on the opening day of the festival in Istanbul, Thursday 6th of November, at Beyoglu cinema at 20:00 CET. THe cities and organisation which participate are: TaM from Veliko Tarnovo, Asociația Culturală Contrasens from Timisoara, Kalamata Creative Documentary Center, PvN in Tirana, Sfera International at Bitola, DokuFest at Prizren, in Pescara with the Adriatic Film Festival, in Struga with the Drim Festival and in Bajina Bašta in cooperation with Basta Festival.
Join the BBB experience in Istanbul!
More information is available on our Facebook and our Instagram page (Balkans Beyond Borders). Contact us at info@balkansbeyondborders.eu
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