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Open Call for Western Balkans Young Team: Sarajevo Film Festival In Youth Eyes

This project will gather youth from the Western Balkans to attend Sarajevo Film Festival and through their eyes tell the story of intercultural dialogue, youth cooperation, diversity and peace building

Following the last year’s successful partnership, Sarajevo Film Festival (SFF) and the Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO) in cooperation with Forum Civil Peace Service - forumZFD and USAID project PRO-Future are organizing a special project activity In Youth Eyes: WESTERN BALKANS YOUTH TEAM which will gather youth from the Western Balkans to attend Sarajevo Film Festival and through their eyes tell the story of intercultural dialogue, youth cooperation, diversity and peace building.

Sarajevo Film Festival wants to offer an opportunity for young people from the Western Balkans, to visit Sarajevo, meet with their peers, discover, watch and learn about our communities and others through movies, discussions but also through walking around Sarajevo at its best moment. 

The Western Balkans Youth Team will attend movie projections within the SFF’s Dealing with the Past corner, participate in panel discussions with filmmakers but also will have an opportunity to create social media content to present their experience and perception of history, narratives, youth activism, Sarajevo, film festival, dialogue and networking.

The joint project is a synergy of important and valuable partners in Bosnia and Herzegovina which aims to make opportunities for young people from the Western Balkans to be mobile, creative and involved as they are engines for a better region and intercultural community.

There will be 30*  youth participants to form the Western Balkans Youth Team who should fit to the following criteria:

• Residents of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Montenegro, North Macedonia or Serbia (collectively referred to as the contracting parties) 

• Age 18-30;

• Motivated to take part in full project and contribute to team work, as well as writing stories for DwP page and producing content for social media;

• Inspired to participate in the agreed agenda of SFF and write an article about their experience after they get back to their local community;

• Able to attend the “Dealing with the Past” program from  14 until 19 August 2020;

• Have never traveled or had fewer opportunities to travel outside their cities/contracting parties.

Interested candidates should apply until 10 July 2020.

Due to the circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important to highlight that all activities will be done in accordance with the proposed national measures and in fully prepared and secured space and staff aiming to guarantee high safety and health protection of the participants.
Read more on SFF policy on COVID-19 here.

Given that the rules regarding the pandemic are not the same across the region and that the situation is deteriorating, the organizers reserve the right to adjust the program, activities and number of participants according to the situation on the ground and during the festival. Some participants may not participate physically after all, so the organizers will try to include them online. Travel and health insurance for the participants will be covered by the organizers. 

Sarajevo Film Festival (SFF) is the leading film festival in the region, recognized by both film professionals and the wider audience. It is an international film festival with a special focus on the region of South-East Europe shining an international spotlight on films, talent and future projects from the region. During the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in 1995, Obala Art Centar initiated the Sarajevo Film Festival with the aim to help to reconstruct civil society and retain the cosmopolitan spirit of the city. This year’s SFF will last for seven days and kick off in Sarajevo on 14 August 2020. 

For more information on the SFF’s Dealing with the Past program, please click here.

You can apply using this link.

* RYCO team will select eighteen (18) participants from all six (6) Western Balkan Contracting Parties , three (3) participants per each. While the rest of the participants from Bosnia and Herzegovina for the WB Young Team will be selected by partners Forum Civil Peace Service - forumZFD and PRO-Future