8 February 2008 | The transport corridor N 8 which crosses the Balkans from East to West, or rather its spectacular failure to materialise, is the running thread of a Bulgarian film that will premiere at the 2008 Berlinale Film Festival today.

Planned for almost two decades but still non-existent, the route symbolises the complex problems with the Balkans’ fragmentation. The film, called Corridor Number 8, follows the drafted path from the Bulgarian port city of Burgas to the Albanian town of Durres. Along the way, it tells the stories of Bulgarians, Macedonians and Albanians who live along this dream of a highway.

The plot reveals how little people in the Balkans know of each other, often replacing their lack of knowledge with negative stereotypes.

The film is a debut in the genre for director Boris Despodov, who has been better known as a cartoonist in Bulgaria. Corridor Number 8 was produced by AGITPROP – the company that was behind a couple of the most successful Bulgarian films in the past two years, Georgi and the Butterflies and the recently released The Mosquito Problem and Other Stories.

After its premiere today, Corridor Number 8 will be shown on February 9, 10 and 12 as part of the festival’s programme but, according to Berlinale’s official website, tickets are sold out for all but the last screening.