Contemporary Balkan Cinema: Transnational Exchanges and Global Circuits by Lydia Papadimitriou and Ana Grgić

Abstract

 Reviews Contemporary Balkan Cinema: Transnational Exchanges and Global Circuits. Ed. by L P and A G. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. .  pp. £. ISBN ––––. Featuring in-depth analyses of film production from the largest to the smallest of countries in the region, Contemporary Balkan Cinema, an eclectic volume brought together by editors Lydia Papadimitriou and Ana Grgić, breaks new ground in scholarship on the film industries of the Balkan Peninsula. e distinct aim of the volume is to reclaim the term ‘Balkan’ from its long association in the West with violence and fragmentation (p. ), and to create a volume ‘more concerned with offering an empirically grounded account of the cinematic activity within and across the region’ (p. ). e aim is a challenging one, primarily because of the scale of its coverage, which ‘widens the geographic focus in order to provide an inclusive view of the region and disband narrow identifications of the Balkans with the former Yugoslavia’ (p. ). e volume features chapters on Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, and Turkey. Although perhaps contrary to the ethos of the book, it is impossible not to mention that this is a controversial assemblage considering that there are ongoing political difficulties, acknowledged by several of the contributors, between a number of the nations included, and sometimes within countries themselves. As discussed in their respective chapters, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Cyprus still face internal divisions along ethnic lines, affecting film production, something which Dijana Jelača suggests in her chapter on Bosnia and Herzegovina even ‘calls into question the possibility of unifying Bosnian cinema under the umbrella of singular national cinema’ (p. ). Meanwhile , several of the countries included do not officially recognize another country included, Kosovo, as an independent state. is is reflected in the limited scale of Kosovo’s intra-regional transnational co-productions (co-productions are highlighted by the editors as one of the major positives in recent developments in the region’s film industries: p. ). Nonetheless, the volume does offer neutral and purposefully equalized ground to explore the various industries in the light of their own strengths and weaknesses, as well as revealing the mostly rich landscape of transnational partnerships in the region. It brings together an array of established specialists to explore the film industries covered in each chapter, some of whose scholarship is not usually available in English. Many of the chapters focus on detailing the funding, structure, and output of their national film industries, as well as describing national film festivals and awards. e chapters on Kosovo, North Macedonia, and Montenegro represent particular milestones in view of the lack of scholarship on these industries in English ; and I would add to this list the chapter on Albania, which offers a fascinating overview of the long and bumpy history of national film production. e volume further contains an appendix with tables providing overviews of national film production, feature film releases, and box office data, and a list of key institutions and major festivals for each country. Anyone who has spent any time trying to MLR, .,   establish such data from incomplete records will appreciate the service this does for film scholarship on the region. Contemporary Balkan Cinema is not all facts, however. For those seeking overviews of filmic themes and their influences in the various nations under discussion, all the chapters cover these topics in varying levels of detail and examine the historical context shaping film production. More importantly, several chapters, particularly those on Croatia and North Macedonia, offer crucial insight into the ways in which political parties influence, or try to influence, film production. While political, economic, and social difficulties are undeniably still a pervasive presence in film from the region, this volume proves that film can also be a conduit for success and growth in these nations. U  N L T ...