Lilja 4 Ever was great.

See the following:

Iran: Anything by Makhmalbaf, but especially A Moment of Innocence (Nun u Goldun) and the Afghan Alphabet (Alefbay-e Afghan)
Russia: 12, House of Fools (Dom Durakov)
Georgia: A Trip to Karabakh (It's on Youtube, it turns out)
Turkey: Yol, Sonbahar
Israel/Palestine: Already recommended but: Amos Gitai, especially Free Zone, anything by Simone Bitton, but especially Mahmoud Darwich and Mur. Elia Suleiman, see Chronicle of a Disappearance. Oh, and Paradise Now, of course.

Holy shit, I've never seen a Greek film. Someone remedy this.

Iran cinema can kick both Turkish and Greek cinema's asses. Makhmalbaf is great, Kierostami, Amir Naderi and Majid Majidi are top class directors too.

Have you seen Sonbahar? Cheers mate! It's great isn't it?
Hey Uşaklar, now we've found out the reason behind this yahudi's suspicious love to Black Sea.

No! I went there! I heard them speak Laz and everything! I ate their "Laz böreği" and everything! It was great!

Sonbahar does add to it though. SO AMAZING

Oohh laz böreği...

x2

Ok, I judge just from 3-4 iranian films that I've seen..

Still, I bet they were all really good!

G-d bless Persia, G-d bless the Persians.

Macedonia May Consider Name Concessions

Skopje | 22 October 2009 | Sinisa-Jakov Marusic

Macedonia will try to persuade Greece not to block its EU progress in December by promising concessions in the countries' name dispute by sometime next year, media reports cite unnamed Skopje officials as saying.

Athens is conditioning its acceptance of Skopje's EU accession bid on the neighbouring state changing its formal name, Republic of Macedonia. The EU Council looks set to discuss Macedonia's accession bid in December. In order for Skopje to receive a recommended date for the start of its integration talks, all 27 member states would have to vote in favour, including Greece.

“Diplomatic efforts are being made to persuade Greece to refrain from making any moves that would [stop] the EU Council from extending the date,” a Skopje diplomat told local A1 TV.

Diplomatic sources explained that, in exchange, Macedonia could promise that it will make alterations to its name before the actual start of the EU talks, sometime in 2010.

This scenario could be acceptable to the authorities in Skopje as it would provide them with enough time to prepare the Macedonian public for concessions on this sensitive issue, the A1 TV report noted.

Last year, Athens blocked Skopje's NATO membership over the name spat. Greece argues that Macedonia’s name implies that Skopje is making territorial claims on its northern province of Macedonia.

On Wednesday, Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, who heads the ruling VMRO-DPNME party, was not available for comment. But Ermira Mexmeti, the spokesperson for the VMRO-DPNME's junior coalition partner, the Democratic Union for Integration, said that the moment is “more than favourable for a constructive and pragmatic approach” that “would bring progress before December 1”.

Earlier this month, the European Commission, EC, recommended the start of Macedonia’s EU accession talks but left the decision on an actual date to the EU Council. The EC encouraged the country to hammer out a swift name deal with Greece.

Yesterday, Macedonia's main opposition party, the Social Democrats, gave Gruevski carte blanche to negotiate an end to the dispute. The party pledged its support for any compromise that guarantees that the language and nation would remain unchanged and referred to as Macedonian.

The two neighbouring state are engaged in UN-sponsored talks on the issue. Local media speculate that a variation on the name Northern Macedonia might prove acceptable to both sides.

Link

Evro i really have no idea what all this means..
so what if greece allows them in and then they say they wont change.

From the article:

And if they don`t change their name in 2010 then Greece could still use their veto to stop the EU negotiations.

Droutsas – First solution on name, then start of negotiations

Athens, / 28.10.09

Macedonia will not get a date for start of accession with the European Union until a dispute over its name is solved, a Greek minister told Reuters on Wednesday.

"The name issue must be solved before we can even think of opening accession negotiations with Skopje," said Dimitris Droutsas, who shares the foreign policy portfolio with Prime Minister George Papandreou.
"This a very clear and strict line Greece is taking," Droutsas told Reuters in an interview. "We are calling this the national red line."

In the interview with Reuters, Droutsas also commented the dispute with Turkey. According to him, Greece seeks to improve relations with its neighbors.

Ankara has to give up pressures on the Turkish Cypriots in conducting negotiations. I am asking you to leave these two communities to talk freely about their future and mutual interests, Droutsas said.
He underlined that Ankara’s pressures on Mehmet Ali Talat, the leader of the Turkish Cypriots, has a negative impact on the efforts to reach a constructive solution.

Link

Ivanov invites Papoulias to Skopje

11/05/2009

SKOPJE (ANA-MPA / N. Frangopoulos) -- The president of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (fYRoM), Gjorge Ivanov, has invited President of the Republic Karolos Papoulias to formally visit the neighbouring country.

Ivanov conveyed the invitation to Amb. Alexandra Papadopoulou, who heads Greece's liaison office in Skopje.

The invitation underlined that a visit by Papoulias, the date of which is left open to be decided by the latter, will give a "strong boost" to the strengthening of good-neighbourly relations.

The fYRoM head of state also mentioned that he is "deeply convinced that in bilateral relations of the two neighbouring countries, things that unite us and bring us closer together are more than those that divide us."

Ivanov also expressed hope that Papoulias will accept the invitation

Link

UN set to launch new talks to end dispute between Greece and FYROM

Posted : Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:16:28 GMT

By : dpa

Athens - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday that his special envoy was prepared to launch new talks in an effort to resolve an 18-year name dispute between Greece and its northern neighbor, provisionally called Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). "My special envoy, Matthew Nimetz, hopes to keep up the momentum for development on the main issue between Greece and FYROM and is set to restart the process of negotiations when the parties are ready," Ban said.

The United Nations formally refers to the country as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), while Skopje prefers the name Republic of Macedonia.

The secretary-general, on an official visit to Athens, said, "Greece is ready and will fully support and facilitate this effort."

Greece and its northern neighbour have been at loggerheads over the right to the name of "Macedonia" since 1991, when Macedonia declared independence from Yugoslavia.

Athens claims the name dispute implies territorial claims on its own northern province of Macedonia, where Alexander the Great was born.

UN-led negotiations on the issue have proved fruitless and Greece used its veto to block Macedonia from becoming a member of NATO.

The name issue has also slowed Skopje's integration into the European Union.

Skopje was granted EU candidate status in 2005, but Athens has threatened to veto the beginning of the talks if a solution is not found to the name issue.

Link

The solution to the name issue is exceedingly simple. The name of the country is Macedonia, its formal name is the Republic of Macedonia. Is there some other country I'm not aware of trying to use those names? So what's the problem? They're using a name with a different meaning historically? A name that has deep meaning for you?

[dohtml]Get in line, Greeks.[/dohtml]