17th Balkans Beyond Borders Short Film Festival – Shift your gaze to the Unseen
12-16 November 2026 Athens, Greece
The 17th edition of the Balkans Beyond Borders Short Film Festival, titled “Shift your gaze to the Unseen”, returns to Athens from 12 to 16 November 2026, inviting filmmakers and audiences from across the Balkans and beyond to a five-day cinematic experience at the Greek Film Archive (Tainiothiki tis Ellados).
When dominant narratives dictate the frame, what we choose to see becomes a political act. If something is not visible, does it really exist? What brings it into view, and who decides what stays within the frame and what is excluded from collective memory? In a world saturated with images and information, visibility does not automatically mean understanding. We invite audiences to turn their focus toward the unseen, the overlooked stories, hidden perspectives, parallel realities, invisible communities, and forgotten memories that coexist within our shared social landscape.
The Competition Programme features 32 short films by emerging filmmakers from the Balkan region. The Jury of the 17th edition’s competition programme consists of Kukla (Slovenia), Lidija Kordic (Montenegro) and Siamak Etemadi (Greece). Continuing its exploration of new cinematic forms, the festival presents BBB Creative AI, a special competition programme dedicated to the creative potential and narrative possibilities of artificial intelligence in filmmaking, with Bettina Enigl (Austria), Vasileios Boukis (Greece) and Nikolaos Aletras (Greece) forming its Jury. This year also marks the launch of BBB Gen A, a new competition programme dedicated to younger generations aged 6 to 15, encouraging young audiences to discover the power of short films in addressing contemporary issues. The Jury of the BBB Gen A category consists of Malborë Krajku (Kosovo), Taxiarchis Deligiannis (Greece) and Vasilis Tsiouvaras (Greece) forming its Jury. For its 6+ programme, the festival is pleased to host Kiddo, a programme by the Drama International Short Film Festival, introducing young viewers to short films by Greek filmmakers.
The non-competition programme brings together diverse cinematic voices through BBB Beyond, an international selection of short films, BBB Focus: Czechia, highlighting short Czech realities, BBB & co, featuring a special selection of films by the festival’s collaborators, and BBB Greek Picks, a programme dedicated to emerging Greek cinematic perspectives, selected from the festival’s official submissions.
The festival will open with a screening of the feature documentary “The Stuff We Are Made Of” by Siamak Etemadi, setting the stage for five days of cinema, dialogue and creative exchange.
Screenings Programme:
Thursday 12.11.2026
Morning Screenings for Schools
09.30 – 13.30 → BBB Gen A Competition programme (by school registration only)
Evening Screenings
18.30 – 19.00 → Reception
19.00 – 20.45 → Opening Ceremony & Competition #1: Resist against the oblivion
21.00 – 23.00 → Film Screening “The Stuff We are Made of”, dir. Siamak Etemadi
Q&A with the director and members of the crew
Friday 13.11.2026
Morning Screenings for Schools
09.30 – 13.30 → BBB Gen A Screenings for Secondary School Students (13-15 y.o)
Evening Screenings
18.30 – 19.30 → BBB Focus Czechia
19.45 – 21.45 → Competition #2: Reframing Identities
Saturday 14.11.2026
Evening Screenings
18.00 – 19.00 → AI Competition Screenings
19.30 – 21.15 → Competition #3: A Strictly Personal Gaze
21.30 – 23.30 → Competition #4: Seen / Unseen or to Be Discussed
Sunday 15.11.2026
Morning Screenings for kids and family
11.00 – 12.15 → BBB Gen A screening 6+ by KidDo programme of the DISFF
12.30 – 13.30 → BBB Gen A Competition programme 8+
Evening Screenings
18.15 – 19.30 → BBB Beyond
19.30 – 20.30 → BBB & Co Partners Screening
20.45 – 22.00 → Competition #5: Looking for a Getaway
Monday 16.11.2026
Morning Screenings for Schools
09.30 – 12.30 → BBB Gen A for Secondary School Students (13-15 y.o)
Evening Screenings
18.15 – 19.30 → BBB Greek Picks Screenings
19.45 – 21.15 → Competition #6: Family in Glimpses
21.30 – 22.00 → Award Ceremony
Tickets available from 9/11 https://tickets.tainiothiki.gr/
Beyond its screenings, the 17th BBB Short Film Festival offers a rich programme of parallel activities, creating opportunities for dialogue, learning and exchange between filmmakers, artists, cultural professionals and audiences. The fourth edition of BBB Cine Forum, titled “The Power of Cinema to See the Unseen”, will feature workshops, masterclasses and round-table discussions exploring contemporary challenges and opportunities in filmmaking. This year’s discussions will address accessibility, artificial intelligence, queer cinema and anti-languages, examining how cinema can challenge established perspectives and bring overlooked experiences into focus.
Part of the Festival is the Unfold Conference, which opens the discussion on the power of cultural interventions in public spaces, enabling urban experience and transformation. Bringing together international artists and local stakeholders, the conference will explore the opportunities and challenges of creating art in public spaces, fostering community engagement and opening new possibilities for cultural expression. The Unfold Conference is the complementary event of the Unfold project, a European programme co-funded by the European Union implemented by Klara i Rosa (Serbia), Iminente (Portugal) and Balkans Beyond Borders (Greece).
BBB Cine Forum IV Programme:
Friday 13.11.2026
17.00 – 18.00 → Open Discussion: From Accessibility to Co-creation: Overcoming Challenges – Creating New Horizons in Art
Saturday 14.11.2026
12.00 – 14.00 → 17BBBSFF UNFOLD Conference: Art Unfolds Public Space into an Open, Experiential Journey as Catalyst for Urban Transformation,
17.00 – 18.00 → Open Discussion: Cinema in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: The Role of the Creator
Sunday 15.11.2026
12.00-16.00 → BBB in the Neighbourhood – Queer Survival and Parallel Worlds: Ethno-graphing Kaliarda (the Greek queer argot)
Monday 16.11.2026
17.00 – 18.00 → Masterclass with Thanasis Neofotistos: Cinema doesn’t fit into boxes: From Personal Stories to Modern Myths
For another year, the Balkans Beyond Borders Short Film Festival goes beyond its host city, Athens, through its BBB Cross-border Screening, connecting audiences across different European cities through simultaneous screenings. This initiative aims to strengthen connections between cultural organisations, filmmakers and local communities while celebrating the shared power of cinema to bring people together across borders by screening simultaneously the Opening Night of the Festival “Competition#1: Resist against the oblivion” in the cities of Kozani (Arsis), Veliko Tarnovo (TaM), Prizren (Dokufest), Tirana (PvN), Bitola (Sfera International), Thessaloniki (Pheno) and Belgrade (VAC).
Join the BBB Experience in Athens!
Discover more about the festival on our website, or follow us on Instagram, Facebook & LinkedIn. You can contact us at info@balkansbeyondborders.eu.
Production
With the Support
