WHAT IS THE MAIN IDEA OF THE PROJECT AND WHO IS THE TARGET GROUP?

The aim of the series is to make viewers familiar with this fascinating region and its peoples, their recent past and their struggle for a better future in Europe.

In the early 1990s, the Balkans saw the outbreak of the worst fighting in Europe since the end of the Second World War. More than100,000 people were killed; more than a million were displaced from their homes. There was civil unrest, economic collapse and massive emigration as people fled a region that seemed to offer few prospects. Today, there is peace. The powerful promise of a different future, evoked from Tirana to Belgrade, from Sarajevo to Istanbul, is “Europeanisation”.

Romania and Bulgaria have recently joined the European Union. Other countries are struggling to do the same. Much changed for the better in Bulgaria and Romania once they made EU accession their strategic goal, but even here progress was uneven.

Contested borders, social problems and weak state institutions continue to be a part of reality in South East Europe. The last decade has been defined by struggles. Europeanisation is not a train: a country cannot simply board it and expect to reach its destination without making an effort. Europeanisation requires people willing to fight for change: artists, environmental activists and politicians.

WHAT DOES THE PROJECT INCLUDE?

To present the changing Balkans to a wider public, the European Stability Initiative (ESI) has embarked on a journey of discovery. It gives people who have contributed to the region's progress since the mid-1990s the opportunity to comment on their present situation: artists, lawyers, journalists, activists, mayors and football players tell their version of the story. With powerful images, these ten 52-minute episodes provide a new perspective on the present and possible future of the region.

This ten-part documentary series is an initiative by ERSTE Foundation based on research by ESI and was produced by pre tv, co-produced by ORF and 3sat, and sponsored by Fernsehfonds Austria and kultur steiermark.

By early 2009, some 4 million people had watched the films on 3sat and ORF. ERSTE Foundation and ESI also organised three dozen film screenings across Europe: from Tbilisi to Barcelona, Berlin to Istanbul, Warsaw to Pristina, and Budapest to Belgrade. Every day, an average of 2,700 people visit the film website.

The series was awarded the 2008 “Erasmus Euro Media Grand Award” for outstanding European media production by the European Society for Education and Communication (ESEC). It was chosen from among more than 250 applications from all over Europe by an international jury. ESEC Chairman Thomas A. Bauer noted that the series “combined inspired directing with sound scientific research”.

The series also received positive feedback in the press. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung wrote that “this remarkable documentary series destroys all clichés”. Die Zeit and Süddeutsche Zeitung called the film on Turkey a “fascinating kaleidoscope of impressions” and “a great documentary”. The former chairman of the International Commission on the Balkans, Giuliano Amato, wrote that “these are documentaries all of us citizens of the European Union should have the opportunity to see”.

European policy-makers agreed. When the series was screened in the film theatre of the European Commission in Brussels, Olli Rehn, EU Commissioner for Enlargement, praised it as “a compelling documentary series about the Balkans and Turkey”.

HOW IS THE PROJECT FINANCED?

Having an ambitious vision is one thing; mobilising the necessary resources for such a huge project to implement it is another. Early support by ERSTE Stiftung (ERSTE Foundation) and its chairman of the board (and leading Balkan expert) Erhard Busek proved decisive, as did the support of ORF and 3sat.

WHAT ABOUT THE FUTURE?

The documentary films will be broadcast on many TV channels in the Balkans. There is even an Armenian TV station that expressed interest in the films.