The 8th edition of the only festival dedicated to Balkan films, music and culinary art, Divan Film Festival, started on Friday, August 18, in Craiova. This year’s schedule contains 18 feature films, 20 short films, a theatre play, concerts and culinary demonstrations. Between 21 and 26 of August the festival will take place in Dolj County at the Culture Port Cetate.

This year’s theme is Balkan Love which gathers the latest and most interesting Balkan films: comedies, dramas, love stories, children movies and short films.

“Bourek” (Greece, Cyprus, USA, 2016) is the film that opened this edition on August 18, an edition dedicated to Balkan love. It is a sweet and sour comedy in which the characters travel, eat and love each other on the fictional island called Chronos, proving that the Balkan love is about love for traveling and that this kind of love endures the challenge of time. In this feature film directed by Vladan Nikolic, the bourek is a culinary specialty whose origin is fiercely disputed by Greeks, Turkish, Albanian or Bulgarian. It is also a main subject for late night talks, a subject that unites and divides couples, that creates or ends love stories. The film will also be screened on the last day of the festival, Saturday, August 26. Watch the trailer here.

After the opening film, the famous Roma band from Clejani and Zece Prăjini Mahala Rai Banda sang at the festival. Another two musical events fill up the programme: Trio Solaar, a group of three young musicians with a rich solo, chamber and orchestral experience, sang on Monday, August 21 and the already traditional IMPEX concert will take place on Wednesday, August 21, at the Culture Port Cetate.

The festival of theatre Ideo Idei was present once more this year with a spectacle called “Home”, performed by Playhood from Ferentari. The culinary demonstration was not absent from the schedule either.

One of the traditional guests of Divan Film Festival is Mircea Groza who made beautiful demonstrations of gastronomic virtuosity on August 21. He showed to the public how the Roman and Dacian cuisine can be created by using the current dishes. On Tuesday, August 22, the Balkanic menu was replaced by Spanish dishes made by Alejandro Barrachina Domenech and on August 23, Nicu Dumitru will be the ambassador of the traditional Gypsy cuisine.

Furthermore, the anniversary screening of Gadjo Dilo will take place also on Wednesday, starting at 9:30 PM. The film made Rona Hartner famous and won a César prize for Best Music (four tracks are signed by Adrian Minune). The screening takes place 20 years after the premiere in the presence of the leading actress, Rona Hartner.

From the Divan Film Festival schedule Romanian Film Development also recommends:

1. Balkan Shorts II (Wednesday, August 23, 10:00 AM) and Balkan Shorts III (Thursday, August 24, 10 AM)
2. A brief Excursion which will be screened on Friday, August 24, at 9:30 PM
3. Bourek which can be seen again on Saturday, August 26, starting at 6:00 PM.

As usual, the entrance is free for all the projections and concerts of Divan Film Festival. Here you can find out more about the festival’s schedule.

Romina Banu

Photographer and editor; she co-founded Dissolved Magazine together with Melissa. For Films in Frame she gathers film and TV series recommendations for lazy weekends and she writes about interesting projects from the film industry. Other than that, she likes traveling, chilling with her cats and sleeping.