Experiencing Interruptions?

Balkan

The Balkans: languages, borders and ethnic divisions are broken by the very life, art and history written by the people of the place. A poem with three narratives is visualized through the August everyday life of 21 people with their personal perspective on the "heart of the world".

The short multilingual poetry documentary "Balkan" is an experimental project created in the summer of 2024. "Balkan", a poem written by Olga Dragas, was translated from Serbo-Croatian into English, Greek and, to honor spoken nomadic language that crosses borders between Balkan states, in Vlach (also known as Aromanian).

Starting with Olga (Serbo-Croatia) and Toula (Greece), the spontaneous development of a human network began, recording with their mobile phones those images, through which everyone connected their personal experience during the August holidays with their unique perspective on the Balkans and with the amateur effort for directorial creation, with the final goal of the collective visualization of a poem about equality and freedom.

The audio-visual material, the collection of which lasted a month, had a total duration of about 3 hours, involved 15 women and 6 men aged from 23 to 92 years and contained footage from 4 cities, 1 town and 3 villages (the 2 Vlach-speaking), in Greece and Serbia.

Three different versions of the documentary have been created, each one of them with an alternative language out of the three as the main one.

  • George Tzimas
    Director
  • George Tzimas
    Writer
  • George Tzimas
    Producer
  • Olga Dragas
    Original poem
  • Androniki Zouki
    Poem recitations
  • Olga Dragas
    Poem recitations
  • Toula Poala
    Poem recitations
  • Androniki Zouki
    Key Cast
  • Annita Diamanti
    Key Cast
  • Eleutheria Eustathiou
    Key Cast
  • Ioanna Tsilimigka
    Key Cast
  • Kaiti Chrysanthopoulou
    Key Cast
  • Katerina Gkrinia
    Key Cast
  • Natalia Zakopoulou
    Key Cast
  • Olga Dragas
    Key Cast
  • Popi Peristeri
    Key Cast
  • Sandra Kalauzovic
    Key Cast
  • Siouko Peristeri
    Key Cast
  • Stauroula Thanou
    Key Cast
  • Jenny Tzialla
    Key Cast
  • Toula Poala
    Key Cast
  • Christina Botsou
    Key Cast
  • Angelos Karaflias
    Key Cast
  • Giorgos Papaleontiou
    Key Cast
  • Dimitris Tzimas
    Key Cast
  • Kostas Poalas
    Key Cast
  • Stefanos Christogoulas
    Key Cast
  • Christos Memos
    Key Cast
  • Charis Kalampokis
    Sound recording
  • Olga Dragas
    Poem Translations
  • Fanis Dasoulas
    Poem Translations
  • Koula Lentziou-Trikou
    Poem Translations
  • George Tzimas
    Poem Translations
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Balkan
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Genres:
    Poetic, Experimental, Social & Cultural, Anthropological, Nature
  • Runtime:
    3 minutes 19 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    September 12, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    0 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Greece
  • Country of Filming:
    Greece, Serbia
  • Language:
    English, Serbian
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - George Tzimas

George Tzimas has been involved in image editing and visual arts production since he was 14. He was born and raised in Ioannina (Greece), studied Architecture in Chania and now lives and works in Athens as a graphic designer. His effort for a “conversation” among the different genres of art with each other but, above all, their relationship with the social reality and the need to change it, is the center of all his participations in groups of project creators on an amateur and professional level. Useful art for him is that which has the power to change the world through the hands of people themselves.

Add Director Biography