In a time of political and social flux, during which the Balkans were suffering from the civil war in Yugoslavia and the economic crisis brought about by the collapse of the communist regimes, the Thessaloniki International Film Festival (TIFF) turned its gaze to the creative powers of the region’s countries, which, despite the adverse conditions, never ceased to produce films and to aspire to transcend the factors of the crisis through art. Thus, in 1994, the Balkan Survey section was established. Its aim was to present to the festival’s Greek and foreign audiences a review of the annual film production and the latest cinematic developments through a selection of the most important films to come out of the Balkan countries, thus creating a bridge of communication with the wider area of Southeastern Europe and connecting Balkan cinema to that of Europe.
Cinema and solidarityThe TIFF Balkan Survey initiative stemmed not only from the interest generated by living in the same neighborhood of the world and seeking common roots, but, mainly, from the fact that the Greek audience was essentially ignorant of Balkan cinema. The linguistic differences and the age-old national disputes between the Balkan countries have contributed to a lack of any feeling of solidarity, a fact also reflected in cinema, since film production in each Balkan country has developed independently of the others, without any real collaboration between them ― at least not until recently. Nevertheless, despite each country’s tendency to present its cultural tradition as its own, thus making diversity the link between the various Balkan cinema industries, their films highlight their shared experiences and common problems through thematic and stylistic similarities. The younger generationThe emergence of talented young filmmakers (Milcho Manchevski, Srdjan Dragojevic, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Zeki Demirkubuz, Dervis Zaim, Yesim Ustaoglu, Cristi Puiu, Fatmir Koci, et al), combined with the continuous promotion of their oeuvres through the 12-year course of the Balkan Survey (as well as that of other sections and, especially, the International Competition, which has so far included 12 Balkan films), led, year by year, to an increasingly bigger turn of the festival audience toward Balkan cinema. The result was that ― beyond a significant drop in the anonymity of productions coming out of our neighboring countries ― Balkan cinema ceased to be exclusively identified, in the viewers’ conscience, with great filmmaking figures such as Theo Angelopoulos, Dusan Makavejev, Yilmaz Guney, Lucian Pintilie, and Emir Kusturica. The distributionAs distribution of Balkan films in the region is poor, due to the dominance of American and Western European films, the TIFF, like most film festivals, functions as an alternative network of distribution, screening films that otherwise wouldn’t have been seen outside their own country. Consequently, through the films of the new generation of Balkan directors, the audience not only has the opportunity to enjoy artistically inspired regional cinema, but also to become familiarized with contemporary social realities which otherwise would have been largely unknown. As a result, the shared mentality and history of the region is confirmed, developing a sense of togetherness that springs from the indisputable common roots and cultural unity of the peninsula. Moreover, their efforts to deal with the past or to find ways to overcome the elements of the recent conflicts contribute decisively to an understanding of the complexity of Balkan history as well as of the social problems that have accompanied the new transitional period after the fall of communism and the great effort that is needed for healing the recent Yugoslav war wounds. The old mastersOur effort to discover new directors and cinematic tendencies in the Balkans that reflect the contemporary reality of the region does not exclude the work of past masters. As a result, a number of tributes to veteran directors have been organized, such as the Romanian Lucian Pintilie, the Yugoslavians Zivojin Pavlovic and Srdjan Karanovic, the Bulgarian Eduard Zahariev and the Turks Omer Kavur and Kutlug Ataman. Other tributes held by the TIFF and the Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival (TIDF) have focused on the new Turkish cinema and the Yugoslavian civil war respectively. This year’s selection of Balkan films will highlight, once again, the thematic and aesthetic diversity of the region, and will honor the work of the internationally acclaimed Turkish auteur Nuri Bilge Ceylan, with a retrospective that will be accompanied by the publication of a monograph and a photographic exhibition. If indeed, as is often said, Thessaloniki is a crossroads of cultures, then the Thessaloniki International Film Festival (the 47th edition will take place this November 17-26) is the indisputable bridge of friendship and communication among the peoples of the Balkans. By Dimitris Kerkinos
Dimitris Kerkinos is Balkan Survey programmer/coordinator at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival.
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