Institutional Lineage
One founding idea, developed across organisations and jurisdictions since 2008.
2000s
An informal beginning
DKQ began as an international idea: linking people and perspectives across societies marked by conflict and division. Its founder and spiritus movens, Darko Soković, made documentary films an instrument of encounter across borders.
2008
The institutional beginning
In 2008, Soković established the Centre for New Communications Dokukino in Belgrade, giving the idea its first institutional form. Dokukino used documentaries and emerging social media platforms to gather communities around questions they would not ordinarily approach together, carrying encounters across social and national boundaries.
2012
A foundation structure
Foundation Dokukino was established first in Sarajevo in 2012, before the foundation model was adopted in other jurisdictions. As President of its Board, Soković connected community legitimacy with corporate resources, international partners and disciplined selection.
The centre of gravity shifted from individual productions to systems capable of carrying people, resources and ideas across cities, sectors and borders.
2018
The Propulsion period
In 2018, Dokukino rebranded as Propulsion, reflecting its development into an international operating platform for major companies, governments and international institutions. Its work ultimately spanned more than fifty jurisdictions through direct programmes, research and guidance, and international audience engagement.
As Managing Partner of Strategy and Development, Soković held the organisation-wide brief: setting strategic direction, structuring partnerships and mandates, and preserving institutional coherence while specialist teams delivered research and implementation.
2023
Valistros today
The European operating platform now known as Valistros, s. r. o. was established in Bratislava in 2023, with Soković as founder and Managing Director. Today, it is the European Union-based principal-advisory platform through which selected global mandates are directed.
Valistros Foundation develops programmes, grant-funded initiatives and public-benefit work, drawing upon the programmatic and creative practice developed through the preceding institutional periods.
Small print
Legal separation
The organisations described here share an institutional lineage and remain legally separate and responsible for their own governance, engagements and obligations. Historical work is attributed to the organisation through which it was performed.
Some organisations associated with earlier phases of this lineage now operate independently under separate leadership and governance.
The applicable contracting entity is identified in each engagement agreement. Detailed legal information appears in the Legal Notice.