site.btaAugust 8, 1965: First Balkan Film Festival Held in Varna

On August 8, 1965, the first edition of the Balkan Film Festival was opened in Varna.

In 1964, the bureaus of the national Balkan commissions of UNESCO held a conference together with the participation of Balkan film delegations in Bucharest, at which it was decided to create a Balkan film festival. Representatives of Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Turkiye and Yugoslavia were invited to participate in the festival with film productions. A special press office published an information bulletin in French and Bulgarian.

The festival aimed to show cinematography achievements in the Balkan region and to facilitate the exchange of ideas and perspectives, similar to other established European and global festivals. Outside the festival programme, filmmakers, producers and journalists from European countries, the Soviet Union and Japan were present at the forum as guest observers. 

The second edition of the festival was decided to be held in 1966 in Turkiye, but due to difficulties of a different nature, the festival was held in 1970 in Mamaia, Romania. The third edition was then held in 1979 in Istanbul, while the fourth edition was held in 1980 in Ljubljana, Yugoslavia. The fifth edition took place in 1981 in Athens and the sixth Balkan film festival was held in 1982 in Sofia.