Levantine Cultural Center recommends the South East European Film Festival in Los Angeles, now in its 7th year. SEE Fest has pioneered the concept of regional, cross-border programming with issue-driven films that tell a larger story about the Balkans and South East Europe, where borders of all kinds are fluid and porous just as often as poisonous. With an overarching goal of presenting multiple points of view, the festival unlocks the delicate doors into human existence and concerns of our time. Visit the SEE festival web site for all details.

The Southeast European Film Festival consistently presents cinematic gems: documentaries, shorts and features...Highlights of this year's festival include Romanian romantic comedy HELLO! HOW ARE YOU? about a husband and wife whose marital fatigue leads them o a dating site with unforeseen consequences; Swiss-German-Bulgarian BALKAN MELODIE about Marcel and Catherine Cellier who travelled behind he Iron Curtain to record the now-famous folk music in Eastern Europe including the Romanian pan flute virtuoso Gheorghe Zamfir and the legendary Bulgarian female vocal choir "Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares", both of whom achieved world fame with the help of the Celliers; animated sensation FIVE MINUTES EACH from Serbian expats in Canada, a metaphorical story about the constant struggle of the artist to reach those five minutes of limelight; droll
Slovenian short THE VISIT which packs a punch in 8 powerful minutes about father-son relationship in long-term care situation with a twist; documentary parable COFFEE FUTURES from Turkey that shows just how much a talented filmmaker can glean from an age-old tradition of telling fortunes from a coffee cup; and special presentation of short films from Vienna-based documentary archive CENTROPA on the culture and history of Sephardic Jews and their relationship with Orthodox, Muslim, Catholic neighbors in the turbulent 20th
century.

South East Europe is a stretch of land between the West and the East, mixing elements of both in an explosive multi-ethnic melting pot. Meandering through the countries of this turbulent region is the only direct land route between Western Europe and the Middle East. Almost everything is subject of dispute: borders, country names, languages, history; the place is rife with historical claims which have a tendency to confuse outside visitors. Today the fragile landscape of South East Europe is host to many initiatives aimed at creating lasting stability, eventually leading to integration and acceptance into the European Union.