A premiere of the documentary “Barka – Source of Life” was held at Frosina Cinema (MCC) on March 27, 2022. The film, made in Poland, tells the successful 30-year story of how social entrepreneurship and the solidarity economy are helping the community, especially the members of marginalized groups and their reintegration and re-socialization into society.
The topic of social entrepreneurship has been particularly in the focus in our country lately. The National Strategy for the Development of Social Enterprises was recently adopted, and a law regulating this issue is being drafted. Social enterprises, by reinvesting the profits from their operations in the needs of the community can do much for the inclusion of persons with disabilities and vulnerable groups or create innovative solutions for environmental protection.
Minister Trenchevska, in her address at the screening of the film, highlighted the importance of social enterprises that strive to create equal chances for all and an equal society, they contribute to environmental and economic development, but also contribute to reducing poverty for the most vulnerable. “They help economic growth, improve social cohesion and the development of new technologies. The Ministry of Labor and Social Policy as the creator and generator of social and economic policies, together with social entrepreneurs, has shown that there is no difficult or easy process, but only whether or not there is understanding and goodwill,” Trenchevska said. She noted that the social entrepreneur is a driver of social change benefitting the whole community. Together with institutions, networks of civil society organizations and social entrepreneurs, communities, i.e. users, they create solutions that are effective, sustainable, transparent and with measurable impact.
“I am very glad that the model of social entrepreneurship in Poland, which development was influenced by the Barca Foundation, is of great interest to government institutions and social organizations in North Macedonia. I hope that thanks to the film about Barca it will be possible to reach an even wider audience with information about social entrepreneurship and this will contribute to the development of such type of entrepreneurship in the country, increasing the involvement of vulnerable social groups, “said Pyotr Visotski, Advisor in the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Skopje.
President of the Barka Foundation, Barbara Sadowska, believes it is important to convey the experience that such companies do not only truly help the community, but can also be sustainable and benefit everyone – and those who founded them and the people who work in them, but also the whole society. Here people find not only salvation from current problems, it is not just a roof over their head and a piece of bread, but a source of life – opening up new prosperity for themselves in the future, finding new skills and new impetus.
The director of the film, Nebojsa Jovanovic, said that while working on the film in Poland he got acquainted with this new concept. “The concept of solidarity for me represents one type of ideal society. The film shows that, however unattainable it may seem, it is possible, both in Barka and in general, in life. The emotions, hope, cohesion that we felt on the set transmitted by the people living in Barca is something that will stay with me forever,” he said.
The documentary is funded by the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Skopje with the support of the Barka Foundation, as well as the EU-funded project “Supporting Social Enterprises”, implemented by Eptisa, in consortium with Barka and Ecorys, and the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy is the beneficiary.
The film is available to the public on our Youtube channel, at the link https://youtu.be/2aSvt3q99dU.
