Skopje, 1 November 2024 (MIA) – The 32nd Skomrahi international student film and theater festival opens at Skopje's Drama Theatre on Friday with a performance of Alfred Jarry's "Ubu Roi" by students from the Faculty of Dramatic Arts (FDA). 

This year's edition is held under the theme "Dionysia Now". 

Skomrahi brinds together students from several European academies and faculties of dramatic arts, the FDA said in a press release. 

According to organizers, this year's edition will present theater performances and films by students from Ukraine, Belgium, Switzerland, Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, as well as by the hosts, i.e. the FDA students. 

This year's programme also includes an exhibition showcasing re-use of theatre 'waste', a collective performative walk across Skopje with the Performative Space Research Laboratory "The City As a Stage”, a panel discussion, artist talks, as well as Skomrah OFF music events and DJ sets.  

In addition, FDA students will be running a performance devising workshop in parallel with Skomrahi’s main programme. A collective performance devised as part of the workshop, will be presented to the audience on the last day of this year's edition. Students from the Faculty of Fine Arts, the Faculty of Music Arts, the Department of Clothing Design and Engineering at the Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy within Ss. Cyril and Methodius University (UKIM) - Skopje, and students from the departments of Circus and Performance Art and Theater at the Fontys School of Fine and Performing Arts in Tilburg, the Netherlands, as well as several artists from the local drag scene will also have their contribution in the devising of the performance.

Skomrahi 2024, entirely conceived by FDA's students, is inspired by the collective liberation through the ecstatic Dionysian ceremonies. Although they belong to distant history, the Dionysia are becoming more and more necessary as today's world is facing myriad crises. Skomrahi invites young theatre directors and filmmakers to reclaim a different way to be, it invites us to come together and embrace our differences, our peculiarities, and our paradoxes, organizers said. 

Skomrahi will run through Nov. 5 at different locations in Skopje, including FDA's Academy Stage, the Drama Theatre, the Albanian Theatre, the Youth Cultural Centre (MKC), and KOTUR Café & Film. Admission to all events is free. 

Photo: Skomrahi