The Beauty of Intermingling
Migration of peoples, intermingling of cultures, and blending of people from different parts of the world are processes that have recently revealed their new facets. Digital nomads, yoga campers, and people leaving their homes for long in search of a spiritual rebirth are natural and numerous representatives of migrating communities. In 2024 a local perspective seems limiting, we’re curious what’s happening outside of our places of residence, and fear less to step outside our comfort zones.

At the same time there’s a growing intensity in our search for something valuable that will bring something of significance to our lives and be a unique experience instead of being another copy of a copy. There’s no time for copying nowadays. In the era of overproduction every quarter of our time is important.

The second edition of Eurasia is an attempt to address these phenomena. We’re inviting you to participate in a film journey which has two basic tasks. First, we want to take responsibility for the festival’s programme and recommend you films you won’t see anywhere else. Second, we’re letting you take a closer look at places that are avoided in the mainstream. We’re focusing on films you won’t be able to find in distributors’ plans or TV schedules.

Did you know that war-torn Yemen had released a film (“The Burdened”) that was the first production made in this country for years and had been submitted for the Academy Awards despite depicting abortion in an emphatic way? Did you realise that one of the most important films of the season (“Inshallah a Boy”) had been made in Jordan and that it had gained recognition at international festivals? Did you hear that Palestine, which is being ravaged by Israel, was putting up resistance also by means of cinema (“To a Land Unknown”)?

If answers to these questions are negative, it means Eurasia is for you. Within a week in Kinoteka you’ll be able to watch the most important films from the Balkans, the Middle East, and countries that gained independence after the fall of the Soviet Union. We’re going to take a peek at the Mongolian province, being guided by charismatic kids (“If Only I Could Hibernate”), make jokes about the Iranian oppression (“Terrestrial Verses”), cross the Saudi desert (“Within Sand”), and even get scared by Greek monsters (“Minore”).

We’re in for thematic and formal diversity, which is why we’re going to invite you to see a unique document about friends from Romania and Iran (“Between Revolutions”), face political turbulence in Greece (“Behind the Haystacks”) and Serbia (“Lost Country”), and inspect situation of LGBT+ community at the Balkans (“Housekeeping for Beginners”).

We believe that the films chosen for Eurasia will become an attractive invitation to delve into the cultures of obscure places. Meetings with filmmakers will complement these stories with additional contexts. Here, in Eurasia we believe that a film is only a starting point for a conversation. We wish you these conversations keep on going as long as possible.

Artur Zaborski
Artistic Director