Cinema at the edges of the European Union

This chapter focuses on recent developments in the cinemas of geographical regions that could be considered as the edges of the European Union (EU). It focuses on the financially troubled South of Europe, and introduces the cinemas of the most recent entries in the EU, all of which used to belong to the Eastern Bloc: Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia. The chapter explores the concept of Balkan cinema and argues for its potential in empowering these peripheral cinemas. It focuses both on aspects of production and financing, as well as distribution and exhibition that enable the circulation of such films—including film festivals. The chapter looks at Greek cinema, as a particular instance of a "small cinema" that has indirectly benefited from the crisis in terms of both output and visibility, and grown to occupy a more prominent position within discourses of European and world cinema.