The Embassy of Romania in BiH and the Center for Interdisciplinary Postgraduate Studies (CIPS) co-organised last week an engaging cultural debate about how contemporary film industry deals with borders, and how can these symbols rather unite than separate people. The debate “Gdje su granice?” Rethinking Borders and Cooperation through Cinema took place on the 5th of April at the premises of CIPS in Sarajevo. The event was organised with the purpose of promoting a stronger cooperation between policymakers and diplomatic representatives on one hand and academia and civil society representatives on the other. Also, the organizers intention was to contribute to the creation of a platform for dialogue and exchange of points of view between various stakeholders in the field of regional cooperation. This event intended to be an open invitation for the audience to reflect on the way contemporary cinema, one of the most awarded and influential art in the Balkan region, can help us rethink borders beyond politics for strenghtening cooperation.
The event benefited from the presence of an active audience composed by young students, representatives of civil society and local and international diplomats. The evening started with a warm welcome from our partners and hosts, through the words of Ms Mariana Hadžijusufović, ERMA coordinator at CIPS and then the main speakers took the floor – HE Filip Teodorescu – Ambassador of Romania to BiH, Mr Amer Kapetanović – Assistant Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, BiH, Mr Mladen Dragasević – Head of Unit Building Human Capital and Cross-cutting Issues, Regional Cooperation Council, Ms Aida Begić – distinguished Film Director and Screenwriter from BiH, Mr Jovan Marjanović – Executive Director of Sarajevo Film Festival / Eurimage and Mr Darko Soković – Director of Dokukino regional project. The discussion was moderated by Miruna Troncota, intern at the Embassy of Romania in BiH.
“We are deeply satisfied with the fruitful discussions that resulted in this framework and the challenging points of view that were expressed from all sides, opening new prospective for regional cooperation. We think that the University of Sarajevo was a perfect place for such an open debate, by bringing together relevant actors in the field of foreign policy, regional cooperation, representatives of the local cinema industry, and representatives of regional civil society, film directors and young students and we were very much honored by their presence there and we would like to thank them for contributing to such a lively discussion. We hope this event would be a source of inspiration for further such initiatives, which contribute to the dynamics and diversity of an engaged public sphere in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Its a good chance for everybody to open up and work together” said Miruna Troncota for the Sarajevo Times.
