Macedonians and Turkish series may have been an unexpected combination more than a decade ago, but it seems that that "connection" with every television achievement only inflames the passion. From the filming of "Goodbye, Rumelia", after 13 years in Macedonia, the series "Balkan story, Which will follow the story of forbidden love between a Macedonian and a Turk. The series will have its premiere of the first episode tomorrow, on the Turkish television "TRT 1" starting at 19:00 Macedonian time.

A gala promotion of "Balkan Story" will be held in Skopje, showing the first episode of the series tomorrow, in Kursumli an in the Old Skopje Bazaar. According to the film production team, it is expected to break records because its subject matter has not been processed in Turkey.

In association with the media, the creators and the actors answered several questions about the series that has been filmed for two months on our soil.

- In Skopje, 200 people already feel like locals. We had doubts about how we would get used to it. There were differences that we did not know how to bridge, but when we started working, we immediately got in touch and received great support from Macedonian institutions, including the Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Interior, security services and municipalities. It was an additional incentive for us to do our job better and one of the reasons why we decided to work on this project, started the producer Yalcin Ari.

- During the filming of the series, we paid attention with the screenwriter that half of the casting was composed of local elements. We did not bring everything from Turkey, but we wanted to have Macedonian elements, ie Macedonian-Turkish elements, so that when the audience sees this series, they will have a chance to feel the local accent. "We wanted to bring the local culture and local accent closer to the Turkish people in Turkey," he continued.

- I want to emphasize the scene where boys and girls meet together in a traditional context that will bring the local culture closer. "Everyone will see that, it will enable the exchange of cultures and I guess it will contribute to the increase of tourism, the Turkish people will want to be a part of it," he concluded, speaking to Turkish audiences.

11 episodes of "Balkan Story" will be filmed, but the duration of the series in Turkey is related to their rating. Currently, all episodes will be filmed in Macedonia and now the second episode is being filmed. If the series experiences a good rating in Turkey, it will continue to be filmed. Besides the Stone Bridge, the unique and colorful Old Skopje Bazaar, filming is planned in Ohrid, Bitola and other cities.

- I am happy that we are filming this series. We did some research before we started filming about the way of life of the Macedonian people and I prepared for the role in a Macedonian family with a Macedonian way of life. As an actor you can play different nationalities and our cultures are close - said the actor Hakan Bojav, who will play the role of Daniel, the father of the Macedonian, who does not oppose her "forbidden love" to the question "How do you feel as a Macedonian in the role “.
Due to the constant dynamics of the film sets and the obstacles in the schedule, we had a chance to meet only the actor, but the people behind the cameras captured the purpose and spirit of the series being filmed.

How authentic can the love story between a Macedonian and a Turk be told from the perspective of a foreigner?

- First of all, I am a screenwriter, but also a director of the project, but I want to emphasize that I am from Novi Pazar and my whole family is from there. I have been visiting the Balkans for 13 years. I have visited most of the major Macedonian cities: Bitola, Struga, Prilep, Veles and several villages. I meet people and I have friends here. I simply feel like a Balkan man, like a local, and I do not see this story as a foreigner but as a domestic resident. Our motto is living together. "We want to show the common life of different nationalities," said screenwriter Ugur Uzunok.

What do you think of the Turkish acting school here, not as an institution, but as a thought? What kind of acting did you face?

- The current system and the system in the country, I estimated that it is still developing, unlike Turkey, and I estimated that not many projects have been made yet, there have not been many events. I think that after the development of events and with most of the filming and such projects, the number of actresses and actors will increase because there is great acting potential. At the moment we have three actors who have no previous acting experience, who have only natural talent and are good at the roles, so I think this country has a lot of natural potential. Regarding acting, I believe that with the increase in the number of projects, the number of artists will also increase. "For this reason, directors like Dogan should be supported," said casting director Melih Deirmenji.

- At first we turned to the Turkish theater and its collaborators, but later we realized that the two languages ​​have a lot in common and therefore we managed to get actors who, although they do not know Turkish, because of the common words can speak a word or two. "When we came here, we faced a much higher percentage of speaking Turkish than we expected, the language is known by both Serbs and Macedonians and Albanians," Deirmenji said.