BIAFF Zbignev Rybchinski Abbas Kiarostami Batumi Georgia film fesival


	History

	Batumi International Art-House Film Festival (BIAFF) was established in 2006. The organizer - BATUMI ART HOUSE "ARGANI", official partner - Batumi City Hall. BIAFF is annual event and is held in second half of September. Festival is focusing on art-house films. - 2010 - Fifth International Film Festival in Batumi - BIAFF program presented 45 full-length films in the main section and 30 short length films in young filmmakers' competition section from 22 countries. The head of the main section's international Jury was famous Polish filmmaker - Zbignev Rybchinski, and the rest of jury were Judith Blackburn - Chicago Irish Film Festival Director (USA), Bojidar Manov - Film Critic (Bulgaria) Nino Kirtadze - Film maker (Georgia), Siddiq Barmak - Film maker (Afghanistan). There was arranged the retrospectives and master classes of Zbignev Rybchinski and Abbas Kiarostami (Iran). - 2010 - BIAFF Presented New Georgian Cinema section at TOFIFEST 2010 (Torun, Poland) - BIAFF team organized the presentation of 7 new Georgian films at TOFIFEST 2010. - 2009 - BIAFF Club - The BIAFF Club was created in December 2009. The idea was developed and the preparation of its concept was started during the previous project financed by OSI (July-September, 2009). The aim of club is to unite people interested in art, cinema, and culture in our region by arranging various art, cinema, music, and photography events, seminars and workshops. Currently the BIAFF club has approximately 55 members, and is continuing to grow. We anticipate membership to double by the end of 2010. The first event, in the beginning of February 2010, was a film screening attended by a small group of cinema lovers (30 people). Gradually, through the support of donors and potential private sponsors, we hope to arrange screenings/discussions, various art events, seminars/workshops for larger audiences. Since February 2010, there have been 18 film screenings. - 2009 - BIAFF (Batumi International Art-House Film Festival) Preparation Support� funded by OSI (Open Society Institute) under the ARTS AND CULTURE NETWORK PROGRAM - project's major focus was support of the BIAFF organization in terms of an improved informational campaign in preparation period, improving professional skills / competences of BIAFF staff and volunteers (actively involved in organizational issues) through specialized training courses/seminars, improved technical capacity of BIAFF, popularization of the modern cinematography in Adjara region and to increase interest in cinema and the festival. - 2009 Fourth International Film Festival in Batumi - BIAFF program presented 52 full-length films in the main competition section and 35 short length films in young film makers competition section from 21 countries. The head of the Jury was Jos Stelling (Netherlands). Beside the main competition section of feature and documentary films there was the retrospective of famous Georgian film director Mikheil Kobakhdize (currently living in France), Turkish cinema section, and the Master collection. The honorable guest was Krzystof Zanussi (Poland). This year (2009) BIAFF introduced a Young Film Makers international competition section. This was to facilitate involvement of youth and students and to contribute to the development of cultural networking through joint projects among local and foreign film makers. The geographic area of films presented at BIAFF included Europe, Post-Soviet area, and Asia among other countries. - 2008 Third International Film Festival in Batumi - BIAFF program presented 50 films from 20 countries. The head of the Jury was Pawel Pawlikowski (UK). Beside the competition section of feature and documentary films there was the retrospective of famous Polish Film Director Krzysztof Kieskolwski, and French film director - Eric Rohmer among others. - 2007 Second International Film Festival in Batumi - BIAFF program presented 40 films from 18 countries. The head of the Jury was Mr. Christopher Kamyszew (Director of Chicago International Documentary Film Festival). A retrospective of the famous Polish Film Director Andrzej Wajda was presented and honorary guest Mr. Krzysztof Zanussi attended. - 2006 First International Film Festival in Batumi - BIAFF program presented 35 films from 22 countries. The head of the Jury was Hans-Joachim Schlegel (Germany).