With a celebratory, warm, and emotionally charged Award Ceremony, the 16th Balkans Beyond Borders Short Film Festival concluded on November 9, giving the BBB Best Film Award to the documentary “Write My Name” by Begüm Aksoy and Deya Ar (Turkey/Palestine) for reminding us that the distance between “their war” and “our lives” is thinner than we choose to believe. The Award was given by Damla Sonmez, actress, member of the BBB Jury team to the director of the film Dearya Ar.
The Jury of the 16th edition of Balkans Beyond Borders Short Film Festival consisting 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 stated that “Write my Name” that with tenderness standing beside devastation, the film turns witnessing into a form of resistance, and cinema into a shelter for memory. It lifts what has been pushed into silence, and lets the unseen be seen and shows through its narrative that war is not a headline, but a wound that tears through names, homes, and the ordinary rhythms of being human.
Also, the Jury gave the BBB First Entry Award (Debut film) to the short film “The Journey of a mattress” by Lina Pavlova from Bulgaria for its deep look into the beauty of life and the unexpected details that surround us, its smooth narrative and exquisite passage from tragedy to comedy.
Among the films in the competition programme, the Jury gave Special Mentions to three short films: “Cats Have No Roots” by Anthoniy Hristov (Bulgaria), for its creative view of reality; “Chicken Broth Soup” by Deniz Büyükkırlı (Turkey), for its intense narration; and “Rahlo” by Jozo Schmuch (Croatia), for its boldness in shedding light on a dark moment of history.
The competition programme also included a new category titled BBB Filmexploring AI (Balkans and beyond) to creatively experience the potential that AI offers. The AI Jury embodied a dynamic fusion of artistic vision and technical insight, consisting of Mr. Panagiotis Kyriakoulakos, Assistant Professor in Computer Animation (Greece), Ms Dila Bulut Derya, Director & Lawyer (Turkey) and Mr Mihali Paleologou, Composer & Artistic Director (Greece), awarded the BBB CREATIVE AI award to the short animation HOLY HEAVÊNESS by Farnoosh Abedi (Islamic Republic of Iran), a film that masterfully celebrates human creativity, realized through the use of AI tools. This work achieves a perfect synthesis of technical flawlessness and profound emotional depth. Through a seamless blend of AI technique and the timeless expressiveness of puppet animation, it tells a deeply human story that is both authentically original and powerfully moving.
The AI Jury decided to give also a Special Mention to the AI film “The Spoon, The Crow and The Other Child” by Abdullah Özçelik (Turkey) for presenting a grand idea through its skillful narration and excellent use of voice-over that employs AI in a consistent manner that helps to fully realize the filmmaker’s clear and compelling vision.
Once again, the audience had the opportunity to vote for their own award through the online voting process. The short film that won the audience’s hearts for its masterful critique of the system and politics, while blending comedy with emotional depth, was “The Tie” by Çamran Azizoğlu (Turkey).
The non competition programme consisted 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 and parallel events took place at three different venues, aiming to bridge cinema with academia, and western Istanbul with the eastern part of the city: Beyoglu Cinema, Uskudar Municipality and Galata University Frej Art House & Cafe.
The 3rd BBB Cine Forum took place at the 16th Balkans Beyond Borders Short Film Festival titled BBB Cine Forum III – Exploring the multiple opportunities in filmmaking from film development to AI. The BBB Cine Forum III consisted of two round table discussions featuring speakers offering useful insights to the participants and provoking interesting dialogue: 1. Round table: AI opportunities in filmmaking and 2. Round Table: Film festivals programming. It offered an exquisite masterclass with Emin Alper and a visual anthropology workshop titled BBB in the Neighborhood: ‘Coffee, Memory & Image’. As part of the networking events of the 16th BBB Short Film Festival we offered two networking lunches, one at the Consulate General of Greece in Istanbul and the other at the Uskudar Municipality premises.
This year we had the pleasure to expand our Crossborder screening to 11 cities: increasing our audience to the Balkans and creating a sharing experience beyond the borders of each country. The BBB Crossborder screening took place on the opening day of the festival Thursday 6th of November featuring the screening slot: “Unexpected incidents’ distortions” The organisations and the cities which participated were: TaM in Veliko Tarnovo (Bulgaria), Asociația Culturală Contrasens in Timisoara (Romania), Kalamata Creative Documentary Center in Kalamata (Greece), PvN in Tirana (Albania), Sfera International in Bitola (North Macedonia), DokuFest in Prizren (Kosovo), the Adriatic Film Festival in Pescara (Italy), Drim Festival in Struga (North Macedonia), Basta Festival in Bajina Bašta (Serbia) Arisi Kozanis in Kozani (Greece) and Visual Anthropology Center in Belgrade (Serbia).
At the 16th Balkans Beyond Borders Short Film Festival in Istanbul we had the pleasure of creating for one more time a hub of networking and development for young Balkan filmmakers and interacting with the audience in Istanbul through a cinematic experience. 
You can find the full programme of the 16th Balkans Beyond Borders Short Film Festival in the online catalogue here.
We extend our sincere gratitude to our supporters Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, Kucukcekmece Municipality, Uskudar Municipality and Kurukahve as well as all our partners and the volunteers who contributed to make this festival be organised successfully.
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