New Balkans Festival - ASTERFEST

A story just in from Macedonia about the third AsterFest, the Macedonian film festival focussed on European work. The awards are shaped like a horsehoe: which "should associate to (sic) gallop, happiness, movie stars, lancer Asteropeus, young Struma etc. In other words, the film horseshoe should be a symbol of (the) eternal glow of the documentary values which remain permanently marked as a movie project, despite the changes in formats and technologies." 

ASTERFEST 2007
Strumica - M a c e d o n i a

   We have the pleasure to inform You that we are approaching the final stage of the preparations for the new, third edition of our new festival in the country, as well as in the region and beyond, dedicated to the film (documentary and shorts) culture and emphasizing its affirmation, popularization and valorization towards the audience.

   It is about the initiative for AsterFest, film and video festival, focusing on documentary, fiction (features and shorts) works of film authors who are coming from or living in European region, and from other continents.    We invited and received films from several productions which submitted film-s for our forthcoming festival. It may be long or short-length film (documentary or fiction). We will present it into the programs: ASTERDOCS, BALKANS FICTION, NEWCOMERS, DEDICATION - focused on authors from European countries and abroad.

   We plan that the second edition of AsterFest 2007 will officially take place in the last week of  May on several locations in the Macedonian town of Strumica, where several other cultural areas will be renewed, related to the climate, ancient values and constant spiritual wideness, which have provided existence to this town for more then two millenniums. The concept is the projections to take place in an ambient, outdoor (in correlation with the summer theme), and indoor.    The promotion of new, alternative cultural fields with our projections is one of our aims. Interactivity between the audience and film works is also an important parameter to work on in the near future.

   Southeast European film authors in ASTERDOCS category will be competing for Gold, Silver and Bronze Horseshoe. The award in a shape of horseshoe should associate to gallop, happiness, movie stars, lancer Asteropeus, young Struma etc. In other words, the film horseshoe should be a symbol of eternal glow of the documentary values which remain permanently marked as a movie project, despite the changes in formats and technologies.

2006 awards of the II AsterFest in Strumica - Macedonia (26-29 may) for AsterDocs programme (creative documentaries more than 30 mins by authors from SEE)

BRONZE HORSESHOE - NEW ELDORADO by Tibor Kocsis (Hungary)

SILVER HORSESHOE - SEVDAH - THE BRIDGE THAT SURVIVED by Mira Erdevicki
(Bosnia and Herzegovina/United Kingdom)

GOLDEN HORSESHOE - SHUFFLE - POLITICS, BULLSHIT AND ROCK'N'ROLL by Ylber Mehmedaliu & Edon Rizvanolli
(Kosovo)

SPECIAL PRIZE: gOLDen projector - COLORS IN TIME by Stefan Saskov (Macedonia)

International jury members
Manuel Zimmer (Germany)
Burbuqe Berisa (Kosovo)
Branko Gapo (Makedonija)

ASTER PRIZE for high achievements in author film -
Branko Gapo (1931, Macedonia)