About

Audiovisual production makes the biggest contribution to the creative industries and has a big role for the growth of the European economy. On the other hand climate change is one of the main priorities of the EU which is high on the agenda and focus in recent years and is aimed at developing and sharing strategies to solve these problems, including the reduction of greenhouse gases. Considering these priorities, as well as the fact that audiovisual production (film and TV production, advertising, etc.) is a significant emitter of CO2, which not only consumes a huge amount of resources, but also creates waste, it is necessary at a global level in the audiovisual sector to raise awareness of eco practices for environmental sustainability.

Objectives

This Forum is organized by Balkan Cinema Cities in partnership with the municipality of. It will open a discussion with stakeholders with the aim to discuss and look for recommendations for new solutions and models to support this sector, to promote Bitola as a filming destination, but with an emphasis on the application of green strategies and sustainability practices in the film production process. In particular, the forum will: • open a discussion, that is, talks about the green audiovisual sector - sustainable eco film production • support the creation of an informal network of policy-makers and high-level officials for sustainable eco film production • examine existing solutions to find out how they work in their municipal environment, and • work out policy guidelines to give options for solutions.

Methodology and Outcomes

The forum will provide a unique opportunity to analyze the current situation and open a dialogue for future solutions. The forum will unite professionals and experts from several fields, who as participants stand for a so-called green-friendly approach to initiate and inspire other stakeholders to think about more sustainable and efficient film production. Particular emphasis will be given to reviewing concrete examples: what approaches have been used to find solutions to problems? Why were these measures successful, or why did they produce the expected results, or even, why did they fail? Presentations of concrete case studies will be held. Participants will examine the concrete examples and review specific approaches and measures that could be relevant on municipal level. The debate will also explore follow-up measures which will be published along with conclusions on the website. Presentations by lead speakers and comments by discussants will be limited to 15 minutes, in order to leave sufficient time for debate. Interventions from the floor should not exceed 5 minutes. As far as possible, copies of papers and presentations will be distributed prior to the forum participants.

Logistics

The two-day forum will take place at cinema Manaki and House of the Army (Офицерски дом Битола). Participation is by invitation only. There is no registration fee for participants. The working languages will be Macedonian and English.

Day 1 - Agenda

Location: KIC-Bitola (cinema Manaki)

Thursday, August 11, 2022

15:00

• Arrival
• Gathering

18:00 - Cinema Manaki

Official oppening:

• Kiril Gjozev, President of BCC
• Toni Konjanovski, Mayor of Bitola

18:10

Screening of the film Stela

• Director: Stojan Vujicic
• Writer: Eva Kamcevska
• N.Macedonia/Serbia/Germany
• Production: Dream Factory

Coproduction:

Akcija Produkcija - Serbia Mouna - Germany

Cast:

• Petar Manic
• Dejan Lilic
• Toni Mihajlovski
• Simeon Damevski
• Hristina Popovic

The film tells a story of a shepherd dog named Stela, a child and a grandfather. It sounds idyllic, but it's not. Bullied at school and suffering as part of a dysfunctional family, 10-year old Nikolа attempts suicide. After this he stops talking at all. Nobody can get through to him except Stela. The dog not only heals the boy’s wounds, but brings the whole family back together.

See the trailer

• Duration: 91 min
• 2020 | Family drama, children |
• Language: Macedonian/ German (English subtitles)

Day 2 - Agenda

Location: KIC-Bitola (House of the Army)

Friday, August 12, 2022

9:45 – 10:00

• Arrival and registration

10:00 - 10:20

Opening of the working sessions:

• Kiril Gjozev, President of BCC
• Toni Konjanovski, Mayor of Bitola
• Short presentation of participants

Subject 1 - Green audiovisual sector - Opportunities and challenges

10:20

• Climate change and and sustainable development as the biggest global challenges of the 21 century
• Sustainability as a new topic in all areas of life, including film production Introduction part + case studies - discussion session

10:20 - 10:40

• Introduction on the topic - climate change in general and sustainable development: BCC and a representative of the Ministry of Environmental Protection

10:40 - 11:20

Sustainability as a hot topic in the film industry - Case studies

11:20 - 12:30

Interactive session

12:30 - 13:00

Conclusions

13:00 - 14:30

Lunch

Subject 2 - Challenges: Digitization of cinemas and support of the distribution infrastructure

15:00 - 15:20

Digital cinema, distribution trends and film consumption in the digital era

15:20 - 15:40 -

Macedonian cinema and distribution landscape – capacities and recourses.

Suggestions and ideas for networking, collaboration and cooperation between central and local governments

15:40 - 16:00

Digitalization of the film heritage - collection, preservation of works and making them available to the public in closer collaboration with local communities

16:00 - 16:20

Short coffee break

16:20 - 17:40

Interactive session and discussion

Brochure

Day 1

Day 2

Participants