Beyond Borders born to 8th edition, by Michel Noll

The Four Pillars of Beyond Borders

Within festival circles, it is admitted that a festival is only really born when it passes its 7th edition. If this wisdom is correct, we are now a proper young boutique festival. For this 8th edition of Beyond Borders, it therefore seems appropriate, not only to articulate but also to make transparent, our international development strategy for the years leading up to our 15th edition. This would be again a yard stick, and will turn the festival into adolescence. We believe that this strategy can intensify the cooperation with our international partners, and also level up the quality of our exchanges. So here is the essence of our current thinking behind what you see during this festival week.

Our strategy is based on four equal pillars, we wouldn’t like to miss any of them. The first pillar is, of course, to screen and share most meaningful documentaries. This happens in our two leading sections, the Μain Competition which features mid and long documentaries that have been submitted to the festival. Our selection committee as well as the main Jury takes care of this section and delivers a whole range of outstanding awards celebrating excellence in documentary filmmaking. In addition to the submissions of the main competition, the festival invites a few, very remarkable films into our contemplative section called Panorama.

Once having taken care of the main purpose of a documentary festival, our second pillar is composed of several initiatives to help newcomers to the 7th Art. An important number of young and not so young citizens are attracted to the cinema industry, but find it hard, sometimes even impossible to join the club. We believe it is our responsibility to help them as a way to foster our common future. This has lead to the creation of a special competitive μicro-section with its own selection process, jury and awards. It has also led to the installation of a pitching lab helping newcomers to bridge successfully the space between an idea and a qualified project. And thirdly, as of this year, we are developing a dedicated network of influential films schools, with a special focus on our region, aimed at precisely facilitating films students to create meaningful paths to from their studies to a filming reality.

Our third pillar focusses on supporting filmmaking as whole, and in particular already experienced filmmakers who wish to enter the international arena. In many ways, we are all aware of the fact none of us « is an island » and that it is vital that we all learn to work with one another. We are therefore experiencing this year a pilot version of a coproduction incubator destined to become a new kind of industry event. Into this direction also goes our attempt to launch a system of honoring specific countries more open than others to coproductions. Canada is the first one in this respect. Maybe it will be Australia next year, then Germany and then France? We’ll see how it works.

The final pillar of our international development consists of including in our initiatives during the festival week events and workshops that have the objective to further our craft and art. This includes a number of masterclasses by very experienced filmmakers and experts, but also a very innovative workshop entitled « Beyond Storytelling ». With as a point of departure, a very famous cinema example for Kastellorizo, the Oscar-winning film « Mediterranneo », we will be looking at what storytelling might look like in the future, since the digital revolution (internet, drones, digital cameras and screens….) and Artificial intelligence have already started to very seriously change our professional lives. Taking these challenges proactively on board will help us to become actors of our future rather than victims of technological progress. The two Pillars of Hercules mark the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea, the four Pillars of Beyond Borders might mark the entrance to our sustainable and meaningful Future. Come and enjoy the week with us.