Miki Manojlovic - Serbia
Predrag "Miki" Manojlović (born April 5, 1950, Belgrade)
is a Serbian
actor, famous for his
starring roles in some of the most important films of former Yugoslav cinema.
Since the early 1990s, he successfully branched out into movies made outside
the Balkans, meaning that he's currently active in productions all over Europe. At February 2009 the Serbian Government established him as a
president of the Serbian Film Center.
He grew up in a family of stage actors - father Ivan Manojlović and mother Zorka Doknić. After his screen debut in 1970, young Predrag continued to appear in numerous films and TV dramas made in SFR Yugoslavia, some of which, like the 1975 TV series Grlom u jagode where he memorably played Miki Rubiroza, achieved cult status.
He is arguably best known for the role of the father in Emir Kusturica's 1985 film When Father Was Away on Business and as a tragic opportunist in 1995's Underground (also by Kusturica). He is known for his versatility which helped him make a strong impression both in starring and character roles, as well as dramas and comedies, with his small role in the 1992 hit comedy Mi nismo anđeli being an example of the latter. He played the role of Agostino Tassi in the 1997 film Artemisia and that of Miki in Irina Palm. During the NATO bombardments in 1999, Miki said: "Westerners must understand that no one can constraint anybody, that the Balkans need to live their own life with their own multiplicity of cultures, religions, languages. They must understand that they should not worsen the situation with their own frustrations and their ideas which do not function, that the more bombs will fall in Yugoslavia, the less safety will there be in Europe."
He grew up in a family of stage actors - father Ivan Manojlović and mother Zorka Doknić. After his screen debut in 1970, young Predrag continued to appear in numerous films and TV dramas made in SFR Yugoslavia, some of which, like the 1975 TV series Grlom u jagode where he memorably played Miki Rubiroza, achieved cult status.
He is arguably best known for the role of the father in Emir Kusturica's 1985 film When Father Was Away on Business and as a tragic opportunist in 1995's Underground (also by Kusturica). He is known for his versatility which helped him make a strong impression both in starring and character roles, as well as dramas and comedies, with his small role in the 1992 hit comedy Mi nismo anđeli being an example of the latter. He played the role of Agostino Tassi in the 1997 film Artemisia and that of Miki in Irina Palm. During the NATO bombardments in 1999, Miki said: "Westerners must understand that no one can constraint anybody, that the Balkans need to live their own life with their own multiplicity of cultures, religions, languages. They must understand that they should not worsen the situation with their own frustrations and their ideas which do not function, that the more bombs will fall in Yugoslavia, the less safety will there be in Europe."
Abdulah Sidran - Bosnia and Herzegovina
Abdulah Sidran (born 2 October 1944, in Sarajevo, SR Bosnia, SFR Yugoslavia), often referred to by his nickname Avdo, is a Bosnian writer and poet who is renowned for his screenplays and dramas.
His major works include Šahbaza, Bone and meat, The Sarajevo tomb (Sarajevski tabut), Why is Venice sinking (Zašto tone Venecija), several books of poetry, and screenplays for award-winning movies from the Former Yugoslavia, such as the Oscar-nominated When Father Was Away on Business and Do You Remember Dolly Bell?, directed by Emir Kusturica and Kuduz and The Perfect Circle, directed by Ademir Kenović. His opus is characterized by a soft and soothing sensibility, where tragedy, meditativity and a specific and humorous irony change sides and play tricks on each other more often than not. He is member of Bosnian Academy of Science and Arts and Doctor Honoris Causa of University of audiovisual arts from Skopje.
His major works include Šahbaza, Bone and meat, The Sarajevo tomb (Sarajevski tabut), Why is Venice sinking (Zašto tone Venecija), several books of poetry, and screenplays for award-winning movies from the Former Yugoslavia, such as the Oscar-nominated When Father Was Away on Business and Do You Remember Dolly Bell?, directed by Emir Kusturica and Kuduz and The Perfect Circle, directed by Ademir Kenović. His opus is characterized by a soft and soothing sensibility, where tragedy, meditativity and a specific and humorous irony change sides and play tricks on each other more often than not. He is member of Bosnian Academy of Science and Arts and Doctor Honoris Causa of University of audiovisual arts from Skopje.
Hristo Boytchev - Bulgaria
He is a Bulgarian writer born on March 5, 1950. The Colonel Bird won the British Council Award for Central and Eastern Europe, and was later adapted into a film, Voenno Poleva Bolnitza (Field Mental Asylum). He is regarded as one of Bulgaria's leading playwrights.
Dimitris Kerkinos - Greece
Dimitris Kerkinos (born August 9th, 1963) studied Film Studies at the University of Manitoba, Canada. He did his Ph.D. dissertation on “Society and Cinema in Cuba of the 90s” for the Department of Social Anthropology and History at the University of the Aegean, Greece. He jointed the Thessaloniki IFF in 1999, and since 2002 he is programming the Balkan Survey Section. He has curated retrospectives and tributes to directors and national cinemas for TIFF and TDF (Thessaloniki Documentary Festival) and has also advised and programmed tributes to Greek cinema for KVIFF, Transylvania IFF, T-Mobile New Horizons IFF. He has published essays on cinema and anthropology and has edited many documentary and fiction film monographs for TIFF and TDF (i.e. Carol Reed, Goran Paskaljević, Cristian Mungiu, Patricio Guzmán, Peter Wintonick). He lectured Visual Anthropology and Ethnographic Documentary at Panteion University in Athens (2004-2008).
Sophia Georgiadou - Greece
Sophia Georgiadou
Vjosa Berisha - Kosovo
Vjosa Berisha is co-owner and chief executive of the film and television production, public relations and arts company B2 established in Kosovo in 2003 and later in Albania (2005). She is also Festival Director and co-founder of Prishtina International Film Festival which was founded in 2008. She owns an MA in Media and Communication from University of Westminster, London UK, and a Postgraduate diploma in Contemporary Diplomacy from University of Malta, in Malta. At the moment she is actively involved in managing works of the two B2 offices, in Kosovo and Albania; film producing and management of PriFest - Prishtina International Film Festival, which happens every year in April. The 10th edition of the festival will be in 17-23 July 2018. PriFest is the most prominent and Internationally recognised Feature Film Festival in Kosovo. It happens in the capitol of Kosovo, Pristina.
Eno Milkani - Kosovo
Eno Milkani is a Film Director, Editor, Cinematographer and Producer based in Tirane Albania. He is known for the film "Trishtimi i Zonjes Shnajder" and "Edeni i Braktisur" as Director and Editor. Beside these two films he is also Director of many documentaries and other short films. He is Delegate Producer of Open Door film directed by Florenc Papas.
Karpo Godina - Slovenia
Karpo Ačimović Godina (born 26 June 1943) is a Slovenian cinematographer and film director. He is one of the most important representatives of the Yugoslav cinematic movement "Black Wave", which produced numerous socio-critical films between 1964 and 1973. His film Artificial Paradise was screened out of competition at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival. Selected filmography: Occupation in 26 Pictures (1978), Artificial Paradise (1990).
Bashkim Shehu - Albania
Born in Tirana in 1955, a graduate of Albanian Literature and Language at the University of Tirana in 1979, fluent in many languages (French, English, Italian, Spanish, and Catalan) from which he translates into his own language, Bashkim Shehu is above all a fiction writer. Author of a dozen novels and many collections of short stories, his writings are translated into different languages from English, French, Spanish, German to even Rumanian and Serbian.
From a very young age, Bashkim Shehu dedicated himself to literature. On the other hand, he had the occasion to experience in his own flesh the extremes of a totalitarian system in which he was born and raised. Son of one of the most important members of the system's top leadership, purged by the dictator in 1981, he spent eight years in what is known as the “Albanian Gulag”, sentenced twice for what was considered a crime of opinion. He was released with the collapse of the dictatorship in 1991.
Bashkim Shehu moved to Barcelona in 1997 thanks to the program Asylum Cities of the International Parliament of Writers and he was representative of this association in this city from 1998 to 2000. Since then he has served as adviser of the general director of the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB), from 2001 to 2011, and has continued his work as a literary writer and translator. Some of the authors he has translated into Albanian are: George Steiner, Hannah Arendt, Søren Kierkegaard, Roberto Bolaño (2666), Gabriel García Márquez, Ernesto Sábato, Javier Cercas, Javier Marías, Eduardo Mendoza, Jaume Cabré, J. G. Ballard, Eric Hobsbawn, Alain Finkielkraut, Zygmunt Bauman and many more.
From a very young age, Bashkim Shehu dedicated himself to literature. On the other hand, he had the occasion to experience in his own flesh the extremes of a totalitarian system in which he was born and raised. Son of one of the most important members of the system's top leadership, purged by the dictator in 1981, he spent eight years in what is known as the “Albanian Gulag”, sentenced twice for what was considered a crime of opinion. He was released with the collapse of the dictatorship in 1991.
Bashkim Shehu moved to Barcelona in 1997 thanks to the program Asylum Cities of the International Parliament of Writers and he was representative of this association in this city from 1998 to 2000. Since then he has served as adviser of the general director of the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB), from 2001 to 2011, and has continued his work as a literary writer and translator. Some of the authors he has translated into Albanian are: George Steiner, Hannah Arendt, Søren Kierkegaard, Roberto Bolaño (2666), Gabriel García Márquez, Ernesto Sábato, Javier Cercas, Javier Marías, Eduardo Mendoza, Jaume Cabré, J. G. Ballard, Eric Hobsbawn, Alain Finkielkraut, Zygmunt Bauman and many more.
Bulent Kucukerdogan - Turkey
After taking a degree in Literature at Istanbul University, he graduated and got his PhD at Institute of Social Sciences, Istanbul, Department of Radio-Television and Cinema. Author of several books and many important articles and papers delivered in international symposiums, he is an honourable member of the globally most known scientific foundation and associations, and the Vice Coordinator of CILECT SEECS-South East European Cinema Schools Association. As a Specialist in video and film editing, he is respected advisor and editing supervisor of a number of short, documentary and feature films in Balkan region and jury member of the regional film festivals.
Eugen Serbanescu - Romania
Eugen Serbanescu is the General
Manager of the Romanian National Cinematography Center. He graduated Aerospace
Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Bucharest, Mastering at the
English Language Program of the University of Bucharest and taking his Ph. D in
Aerodynamics also in Bucharest, in 1987. He has worked as Aeronautical Engineer
and Scientific Researcher from 1980-89. Since then he’s held various positions
in Romania Libera (from Editor to
Chief of the Domestic Policy Department, to Deputy Editor-in-Chief. Furthermore
he has worked as a Media Relations Consultant for the UNDP, Spokesman for the Government of Romania and Secretary of State, Head of the Press Department, Consul General of
Romania in Los Angeles, Consul General of Romania in New York and various other
working positions. He has numerous publications, conference papers, novels and
film scripts. His extraordinary rich experience also includes participation in
both round table and individual interviews on TVR, PRO-TV, PRIMA - TV, Realitatea TV, Radio Romania, Radio Free Europe, Voice of America,
Washington, D.C., BBC Radio, Radio Contact, Radio Tinerama and being moderator
at "Front Line," a weekly political talk show on Tele7 abc, 1994-1996.
Anita Juka - Croatia
Born in Zagreb in 1979. Graduated from the Law Faculty in Split. In 2003 he founded 4film d.o.o. production house where she works as a producer on all home projects including documentary, feature films, animated films and various media campaigns. She produced the most successful Croatian documentary "What About the Day", directed by Ivona Juka, who won numerous awards at international festivals such as the GoEast Film Festival for the best documentary film, Sarajevo Film Festival - Heart of Sarajevo, DocMa - the best European documentary, but also achieved significant cinema distibution in the Balkan countries. Her other successful documentaries are: "The Honey Punk" directed by Branko Schmidt and "The Garden of Blue Roses" directed by Mladen Santic. Anita is also a very successful producer and co-producer of feature films including "Tu" (by Zrinko Ogresta) who won Small Crystal Globe - Special Jury Prize at the 39th Karlovy Vary IFF, Grand Prix at the 9th International Film Festival in Milan, Critics' Prize at the 26th Mediterranean Film Festival Montpellier et al., and "Slovenka", recently co-produced by the international omnibus "Some other stories".
