Corridor #8 by Boris Despodov

Distance is relative, and in the Balkan region – or ‘South Eastern Europe’ as it’s nowadays more politically correctly called – a geographically insignificant stretch is often insuperable, both psychologically and physically.

In 1997 the European Union invented a solution to this problem. ’Corridor 8’ was to be a transportation axis that would connect the Adriatic with the Black Sea, passing through the neighbouring countries of Bulgaria, Macedonia and Albania. Adequate 21st century infrastructure was on its way, or to put it a bit more cynically: a business-friendly shortcut from East to West.

Around ten years later, Boris Despodov set off on a fragmentary road trip, and the result is a remarkable feature debut – a documentary far more complete than the highway it’s checking in on. Actually most people Despodov meets don’t really know much about the road, where it is heading, or why they even need it at all. As a Bulgarian graveyard worker explains, his country will soon be a member of the EU. Compared to visas, a highway is of little importance to most people.

Suspiciousness between the different nationalities and towards the EU makes support weak on the ground, whereas exaggeratedly optimistic claims characterise the politicians and international delegations. Despodov depicts three countries of the ‘New Europe’ with a good portion of irony and wit, without diminishing the structural problems the region is struggling with. Corridor #8 offers the audience a good laugh, but it’s impossible to escape the tragic fact that millions of euros and a decade of expectations for a road that would take people forward have most likely disappeared due to opportunism, mistrust and corruption.

Anna Weitz