The ninth Balkan Panorama Film Festival, considered Europe’s largest Balkan themed film festival, was held in İzmir. The screenings of the films in the official competition and screening program of the Balkan Panorama Film Festival were held in Suat Taşer Cultural Center, Çatı Bostanlı, Hikmet Şimşek Art Center, Çarşı Culture and Art Center, and İzmir Sanat.

The festival, founded by Associate Professor Dr. Sali Saliji, who works as an academic member at the Edirne Vocational College of Technical Sciences at our university, and has been held in İzmir since 2015, featured over 100 films in more than 200 sessions over the course of a week.

At the festival, Turkish and Balkan produced feature length and short fiction, documentary and animation films were screened. In addition to national and international categories, the festival’s symbol, the Golden Umbrella award, was presented in 12 categories including ‘Best Feature Film’, ‘Best Director’, ‘Best Actress’, ‘Best Actor’, ‘Best Short Film’, ‘ Dario Moreno Best Feature Film’, and ‘Fancy Umbrella Best Feature Film’. North Macedonia participated as the guest country in the festival, while Konya Selçuk University and Sarajevo University Academy of Performing Arts participated as guest cinema schools.

Oscar-winning Hungarian director, screenwriter and producer Istvan Szabo; world- renowned Croatian actor Rade Serbedzija; legendary Yeşilçam actor Ediz Hun; Serbian actor, director, and producer Lazar Ristovski; and Croatian actor Igor Galo took part in the festival’s advisory board. On the other hand, actor Rıza Akın, one of the important names of Turkish cinema who passed away last year and Montenegrin actor Petar Bozovic were the festival’s honorary guests. The films titled ‘Rıza’ and ‘Nikola Tesla’nın Sırları’ which the two names starred as main characters, were screened as part of the festival.

The festival’s founder and director Assoc. Prof. Dr. Saliji expressed his great pleasure in bringing together cinema enthusiasts from İzmir with Balkan cinema through the festival, and noted that “I have no doubt that in a short time, the festival will be identified with Karşıyaka, the favorite district of İzmir, which is considered as a Balkan immigrant city, and will be greatly appreciated by the public.”

Translator: Aişe Betül Er (Mütercim ve Tercümanlık Bölümü)