Balkans Beyond Borders Short Film Festival 2011 - “Who’s afraid of the Big Bad crises?”

Best Film 2011 - ESCARGOT, an animation by Manuel Šumberac from Croatia

A short Report

The Balkans Beyond Borders Short Film Festival 2011 addressing the question of “Who’s afraid of the Big Bad crises?” took place with great success on the 20th- 22nd of June 2011 in Athens at the six D.O.G.S. venue. People from the Balkans and beyond attended a 3days programme of 37 short films (15 out of which produced during 3 collective workshops), a photo exhibition, a DJ party with Panina Karydi and the live gig of LikedisLike band from Turkey. 22 films created by young Balkan film makers (Albania, Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Romania, Italia and Greece) were projected during the Festival in Athens showing, demonstrating the diversity of the way in which crises can be understood. The prize for the “Best Film 2011? went to the film ESCARGOT, an animation by Manuel Šumberac from Croatia, which will also be directly included in the competition of the Naoussa International Film Festival. The winner will also receive 500 Euros and a lomography camera. The Audience Prize 2011 went to the film Love At Last, a fiction/documentary film by Stasha Tomic from Serbia. The “Audience Prize” winner will also receive a lomography camera. The jury was composed of Konstantinos Rigos, a highly appreciated Greek director, Violana Murataj from Albania, Alex Iures from Romania, Milica Denic from Serbia and the Art Director of Balkans Beyond Borders Adela Demetja. The Balkans Beyond Borders Short Film Festival 2011 award was designed by Marieta Lyriotaki, a local artist who supported the festival.

The “Audience Prize 2011″ - Love At Last, a fiction/documentary film by Stasha Tomic from Serbia

Film Making Workshop Project

The second day of the Festival was devoted to the Film making workshops that Balkans Beyond Borders organized in collaboration with Tirana Art Lab from Tirana and Line Initiative and Movement from Skopje. The workshop in Athens (June 2011) was the third out of a series of three one-week workshops that took place in Skopje (March 2011) and Tirana (May 2011) with the aim of bringing together young film makers from the Balkan region to work and reflect on the problem of ‘crisis’ by developing short films. 32 participants from all over Europe produced more than 20 films that were projected on the 21st of June in the context of the BBB Short Film Festival 2011. The facilitators of the workshop were Effi Weiss & Amir Borenstein, two well respected artists that are currently active in video making and organising video workshops for different target groups. The project was financially supported by the European Cultural Foundation. To be continued… The Balkans Beyond Borders Short Film Festival continues to travel around the Balkans having Tirana as the next stop in 2012. The theme of the next festival and the submission period will be announced soon on the www.balkansbeyondborders.eu