The fifth edition of the Balkan and Mediterranean Film Festival “Across the Lake” will be held from July 8-15 in Dojran, Strumica and Gevgelija. At today’s press conference, the festival director, Jani Bojadži, the selector, Zlatko Geleski and the executive director, Dejan Miloševski, informed about the details, the program, the guests and the novelties.
-This year, for the fifth time, the Balkan and Mediterranean Film Festival “Across the Lake” remains consistent in being a festival of films from that region and not expanding beyond that archipelago, which has a very important place in the world of cinematography. This year, for the first time, we are regionalizing the festival and from July 8-15 it will be held in three cities: Dojran, Gevgelija and Strumica. The postponement of the festival is due to the fact that we want to enable students and pupils who have not yet gone on vacation to be able to come to Dojran, Gevgelija and Strumica and enjoy the magic of cinema. The screenings of the films from the main selection will be held in Dojran, in a wonderful open-air atmosphere, in the Amphitheater that looks right across the lake, and the remaining programs, such as the short film, student program and cinematography in focus, will be held in Strumica. This year, for the first time, we have cinematography in focus and that will be contemporary Iranian cinematography – one Iranian film will be in the selection and we will have a world premiere at “Across the Lake” and I am pleased that we are recognized as an important festival that hosts world premieres, said Jani Bojadzi, director of the festival.
Bojadzi also informed about the workshop where the filming of graduation student short films is developed and financed.
-We are holding this workshop for the third time, five short feature films by students from Macedonian universities have already been filmed. From last year’s workshop, we have two films and they will have their world premiere at the Dojran festival, Bojadzi announced and thanked all the actors who came out to meet the students and filmed for free.
A novelty this year is the cooperation with Creative Europe and the organization of a workshop on the current topic “Artificial Intelligence and Contemporary Cinematography”.
-We are all aware that a large part of cinematography will be created with the tools of artificial intelligence. As a university professor, I encourage this and believe that we cannot swim against the waves and must move together with the development of technology because film is an applied art – you cannot make a film if you do not apply technology. It is developing and all smart colleagues will sooner or later realize that the fight against technology is pointless. The workshop will be led by two media desks from the neighborhood – the media desk from Bulgaria has already been confirmed, where we will have a lecturer, and we are also in negotiations with the media desk from Serbia, where we are waiting for confirmation for their lecturer, informed Bojadzi.
The selector of the film program, Zlatko Geleski, said that he was dedicated to all people, that is, all cultures and films that encompass the Balkans and the Mediterranean.
The main selection will include six films, most of which are films from the Balkans, but for the rest I wanted to reach the furthest points of the Mediterranean, in order to offer diversity. I can confirm with certainty that no film resembles any of the selection. And that was precisely the beauty of the selection. We are anticipating guests from all the films at the festival, because it is the guests who make the festival, and cultural diversity is precisely what makes “Across the Lake” special.
The selection of short films will include 15 films, half of which are foreign films, and the other half are Macedonian short films. So out of 40, 20 films will be Macedonian.
On the other hand, 12 films by students at the University of Tetovo, ESRA and FDU have been included in the student program, Geleski informed, adding that the festival also has a children’s program this year.
Dejan Miloševski, executive director of the festival, informed about the pre-program and the festival program.
-On July 10, 11 and 12, a workshop for developing scenarios will be held under the mentorship of Aleksandar Rusjakov, and anyone who wants to be part of it can apply on the festival website, said Miloševski, who emphasized that they expect over 100 guests this year and that the facilities in Dojran are ready for a worthy reception.
