Six days of masterclasses, films, exchange of ideas and creation of new connections between artists from the Western Balkans Six, within the framework of the Sarajevo Film Festival.
Twenty-five young filmmakers and artists from six Western Balkan countries gathered for six days in Sarajevo, where they had the opportunity to learn from some of the most renowned names in world cinema, present their work, and establish contacts for future collaborations.
The program was held within the framework of the Second Regional Conference on Cultural Youth Cooperation, organized by the Western Balkans Youth Laboratory (WBYL) of the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), with funding from the European Union and in cooperation with the Sarajevo Film Festival.
The participants, students of film and arts academies from across the region, attended masterclasses with Oscar-nominated actor Woody Harrelson, two-time nominated actress Emily Watson, Polish director and Oscar winner Paweł Pawlikowski, and two-time Oscar-winning Iranian director Asghar Farhadi.
In addition to meetings with big names in cinema, the program aimed to build bridges among the new generation of Balkan artists themselves. Students participated in roundtable discussions with professionals from the cultural and creative sectors, and also held a panel with the Secretary General of the RCC, Amer Kapetanović, and the Head of the EU Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Luigi Soreca.
“Young filmmakers and artists need more than just opportunities to learn from established professionals. They also need spaces where they can meet their peers from across the region, exchange ideas, and create relationships that can develop into future collaborations,” said Ognjen Marković, team leader of the Western Balkans Youth Lab.
The program also gave young people the opportunity to showcase their creativity. Short films by participants were screened during a special event at the Sarajevo Film Festival.
Among them was the film Can the Blind Believe in God? by Uma Zuban, a student at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade. According to her, one of the main values of the initiative was precisely the meeting with artists of the same generation from different countries in the region.
"We had the opportunity to learn from each other, exchange ideas and, hopefully, continue to work together in the future," said Zuban.
The conference aims to turn regional cultural cooperation from an institutional notion into concrete contacts between young people. For six days in Sarajevo, the borders of the Balkans were left outside the halls, while inside they were discussed about films, ideas and joint projects.
