As part of this year's Giffoni Film Festival, there will also be a presentation of the 16th Telemach Youth Film Festival and all programs that OFF provides for young authors through the competition program, practice and co-production market. The presentation will be held by the program and creative producer of the Festival, Mirza Čustović.
The 11th Giffoni Macedonia, a unique film festival for young people, which is known worldwide for its authentic concept and program, was opened in Skopje.
From this year, Bosnia and Herzegovina also has its representatives in the youth jury, and this year they are Zan Mujkić and Ishak Isović (OFF Talents), who will decide on the best Giffoni films, as part of the senior jury category.
The cooperation of OFF and Giffoni, and a number of other festivals from Serbia, North Macedonia, Greece, Italy, Montenegro, Albania and others, which are part of the story, is the beginning of establishing a unique network of festivals in the region with the aim of promoting and educating young people and improvement of the platform for development, production, co-production and distribution of films by young authors.
As part of this year's Giffoni Film Festival, there will be a presentation of the 16th Telemach Youth Film Festival and the program that OFF offers to young people and young auteurs through the competition program, practice and co-production market. The presentation will be held by the program and creative producer of the Festival, Mirza Čustović.
During the duration of Giffonia in Skopje, all steps and agreed plans will be finalized towards the presentation of the new network of the Festival, which was founded precisely at the initiative of Giffonia, with the support of Filmart from Serbia and the Sarajevo Youth Film Festival. The network will access dozens of festivals that focus on young authors, their education and development, which will represent one of the most important regional platforms, with clear and concrete budgets for co-production.
Until now, of all the mentioned Festivals, OFF was the only one to offer a co-production market. And this year's fund amounted to KM 8,000.00, which OFF allocated to three film projects. The best project, by the young Sarajevo director Sara Ristić, will be financed with 4,000.00 KM. "Final goal is to have yearly budget of almost 25.000 EUR for short fiction and documentaries" - said Kenan Music, OFF Festival Director and Head of Development.
What is certainly important to point out is that OFF's departure to Skopje for this type of Festival also heralds a new program within the Festival - OFF_YE (OFF Youth Experience) which next year, at the 16th edition of the Festival, will gather hundreds of young people from all regions and Europe on exchange, and who, in addition to education, workshops and screenings, will be part of the youth jury of the Festival.
After Skopje, OFF will hold the OFF Party in Zagreb and the presentation of next year's dates, and after that the Festival team will travel to Rome. Through all the presentations of the Festival, the focus is on the presentation of Sarajevo as a desirable destination for young people, for film sets, and it is presented as a city of film and festivals.
The presentation of OFF through festivals throughout the region and Europe this fall is realized with the support of the Federal Ministry of Culture and Sports.