Amidst all the political campaigning, debating, and the irritating posters put up literally everywhere, one still might find a little escape haven from the Kosovo elections 2010. This little escape is provided by Skena UP, the International Student’s Film and Theatre Festival, held each year in Prishtina for 8 years in a row now.

Do not be fooled by its title, I could not believe student work could be this good; but with a wide selection of films and plays, there’s something for everyone’s taste, and one would be surprised as the digital technology has improved, how the every-man films have improved as well.

What always brings me back to Skena UP is not just its youthful fervor and gazillions of guests they always fill the city with (one only needs to go to Contra Bar in Skena UP afterparties to witness their growing numbers) but the special programmes they usually offer.

This year, one of the most interesting programs must be “ExYU Generation Next”, a special compilation of out of competition films coming from all former Yugoslav republics. The program brings together films which usually would not be shown together, or would not get to be shown in Kosovo at all.

One of the most problematic issues in the regional cinema development is the fragmentation of the “cultural market” which all the Yugoslav countries once shared. The country borders become real obstacles, especially in terms of films and plays transcending them and gaining a regional audience. In other words, no one really knows what’s “happening” in the art scene in BiH or Serbia because there just isn’t an contact between scenes.

This special program of Skena UP tries to bridge that gap: films from Serbia and Montenegro already have graced the screen, and other films produced in ex-Yugoslavian territory will follow every day till the end of the week at 6 pm in ABC Kino.

On Monday night a Bosnian feature film, “Jasmina”, will have its premiere in Kosovo. A story about war, family and neighborly ties in besieged Sarajevo, “Jasmina”, is probably one of the films that the audience can directly empathize with, especially in Kosovo. Other films like “Sasha”, which will be screened on Thursday might not – a film taking up homophobia in Balkans, en general, might have a lot of barriers to break. However, both these films make an interesting assemblage of images from all over the region, which is definitely interesting, considering how few of Balkans film make it to actual distribution.

But that’s what festival’s are all about: showing you films you will probably never see again, since their universal meaning and message might not translate in a industry where subtitles are mainstreamly abhorred. But that’s exactly why the experience is so unique. And on that note I leave you to at least check out Skena UP’s newly deisgned website and decide what you want to see for yourselves.

Tags: festivals, films, theatre, students, arts, events