20.8.2007 by Lupo.

Summer in the Balkans rich in cultural events

20/08/2007

Art exhibitions, concerts and film festivals have become a vital part of summer life in Southeast Europe.

By Natasa Radic for Southeast European Times in Zagreb –25/07/07

Croatia’s Pula Film Festival is one of the oldest events of its kind in Europe. [Pula Film Festival]

Summer in Southeast Europe is a paradise for lovers of culture. Art exhibitions, concerts and film festivals have become a vital part of the season across the Balkans. Some are long-standing events seeking to regain their once-famous reputation, while others are recent additions to the cultural map.

In Croatia, two major film festivals draw crowds at the peak of summer. The Pula Film Festival and Motovun Film Festival, named after their respective host towns on the Istrian peninsula, both screen premieres and welcome international guests as well as domestic movie stars. Pula, however, is a more traditional, mainstream-oriented event, while Motovun showcases independent moviemakers and the younger generation.

Pula is among the oldest film festivals in Europe. Launched internationally in 1953, it soon became the main film event in the former Yugoslavia. The late Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito was one of the festival’s biggest fans, and he used his power and influence to draw major international movie stars to the Roman-era Pula Arena, where it took place.

Even though Yugoslavia was a communist dictatorship, the Pula Festival was able to welcome the likes of Orson Welles, Sophia Loren, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. An open-air festival, it offered the chance to watch films under a star-filled sky. It was always enormously popular, and one of the most anticipated summer events.

After the country disintegrated, the Pula Festival went on hiatus for nearly a decade. Starting in 1992, it was limited to hosting the Croatian Film Festival, and it was not until 2001 that it regained its international status. Today, Croatian directors still see Pula as their top test of audience support and critical appreciation. This year, the Zlatna Arena (Golden Arena) award for Best Film went to Kresimir Milic for his movie “Alive and Dead”. The festival also screened the last film to be made in the former Yugoslavia, “Belle Epoque – Last Waltz in Sarajevo”, completed at Zagreb’s Jadran Film studios after a 17-year delay.

The Motovun Film Festival started in 1999, and has since become a favourite among younger movie buffs from around Europe. They can camp in the nearby hills and attend movie premieres for a nominal fee. Each year, more than 50 different movies are shown during the five-day event, which some call “Croatia’s Woodstock”. Its top award is the “Propeller of Motovun”, given this year to Israeli filmmaker Dror Shaul.

If film festivals are a high point of Croatian summers, in Albania the emphasis is on live performance, with ancient cities and castles offering uniquely picturesque venues. Butrinti, a southwestern city dating back to the 3rd century BC, hosts an international festival in July. According to Alfred Bualoti, the event’s director, in its eight years the festival has helped promote “not only the recognition and exchange of theatrical values, but also cultural tourism”.

The castle of Ali Pashe Tepelena at Porto Palermo, Himara, is expected to be transformed in an artistic laboratory open to new ideas for artists from varieties of talents and countries.

In July, the ancient city of Butrinti, Albania showcases the best of contemporary culture. [Getty Images]

Ali Pasha’s castle at Porto Palermo, Himara, was the venue for ArtKontakt’s International Festival of Art, a first-time event in Albania. The Ottoman-era fortress was transformed into an artistic laboratory for new ideas from artists of different backgrounds and nationalities. Photography, modern ballet, experimental music, performance art, and installations were among the genres featured.

The goal is to ” confess and share emotions, thoughts, opinions … we will dream and we will make a utopia reality. We will create a different world,” said Andi Tepelena, one of the organisers.

In Macedonia, summer can feel like a continuous progression of cultural and folkloric events. The Ohrid and Skopje summer festivals are renowned. Internationally celebrated poets are drawn to the Struga Poetry Evenings. In addition, many Macedonian towns – including Strumica, Stip, Debar and Radovis – organise summer events featuring folk music, theatre and chamber concerts.

One popular festival is Ilinden Days in Bitola. In Ohrid, the Balkans Music Square is held annually. The Antique Drama Festival takes palce at the ancient site of Stobi.
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Setimes

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20.8.2007 by Lupo.

KFOR, UNMIK oppose return of Serbian forces to Kosovo

20/08/2007

Serbian forces “will not be authorised to return”, a spokesman for NATO peacekeepers said on Saturday.

(B92 - 19/08/07; AFP, RFE/RL, VOA, B92 - 18/08/07; AP, Reuters, Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, Serbian Government - 17/08/07)

A KFOR peacekeeper patrols in the ethnically divided city of Mitrovica. The NATO-led peacekeeping force and the UN mission both said over the weekend that they oppose any return of Serbian troops to Kosovo. [Getty Images]

In statements at the weekend, NATO and UN officials in Kosovo rejected the possibility of allowing Serbia to send hundreds of soldiers and police to the province.

“Serbian forces will not be authorised to return,” KFOR spokesman Colonel Michael Knop said on Saturday (August 18th). “KFOR is responsible for security in Kosovo and there is no intention to authorise such a decision.”

On Friday, UNMIK spokesman Alexander Ivanko voiced opposition to the idea, describing it as “highly irresponsible”.

Kosovo Serbs last week demanded that Belgrade send troops, suggesting that their community might be targets for violence. In March 2004, hundreds of homes belonging to Serbs and other minorities were burned as ethnically based riots broke out across the province.

Citing UN Security Council Resolution 1244, a senior Belgrade official said on Friday it was “high time” Serbian troops and police officers were redeployed to the province to protect the ethnic Serbs living there.

According to Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica’s adviser, Aleksandar Simic, the resolution allows for a limited number — “hundreds, not thousands” — of Serbian security personnel to return.

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