The dokumentART festival, held in Szczecin – a 20-minute car ride away from the Polish-German border – tackles the multi-thread topic of trans-frontierism. The name of the Common Borders section emphasises the tendency to integrate the societies of common Europe. The films presented here do not always unequivocally confirm the thesis that the Old Continent's borders are vanishing, especially not the economic divisions and the fear of the “foreign.” These themes, and others associated with trans-frontierism, are the topic of discussion panels that accompany the presentations and feature experts on politics, sociology, history, and culture.

 

This year, Common Borders presents a film by Jan Gogola - “Hranice po našimu” (“Borders Our Way”). The film was made in Cieszyn Silesia, where the borders of Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia meet. When you ask the inhabitants about their nationality, they often say: Silesian. Whenever it is difficult to express something in the official language, speaking “our way” can prove much more welcome. The elderly often remember not only Czech or Polish songs, but the German and the Hungarian ones, too. After all, the Cieszyn Silesia region had German, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, and Austrian influences. Currently there are no more borders guarded closely by customs officers, the “green” border will sooner encourage meditating on the grassland than smuggling. But does that mean that borders do not exist?

 

dokumentART invites to discuss not only historical and national borders, but also unofficial and elusive divisions, as well as cultural diffusion.