History of Kosovar cinemas
There are few traces of the first films made in present-day Kosovo. During this period, and then under the communist regime, it was the city of Belgrade that centralized the region's film industry, which was then exclusively in Serbian. It was not until 1968 that the first fiction film in Albanian was made under the title Uka i Bjeshkëve të nemura or Uka of the Cursed Mountains, a fresco telling the life of Uka, an old Albanian and his son who had to face the horrors and consequences of the Second World War. A year later, KosovaFilm, a regional film production institution, was set up by the local authorities. It ceased its activity between 1990 and 1999 under the pressure of the Yugoslav government, before restarting after the withdrawal of the occupation troops. To date, the agency, renamed the Kosovo Cinematography Center, has produced several dozen feature films, including many international co-productions. Actresses such as Arta Dobroshi, the main protagonist of the Dardenne brothers in The Silence of Lorna (2008), or Luàna Bajrami(Portrait of the Girl on Fire, The Event, The Hill Where the Lions Roar), are now making Kosovo famous on European red carpets.
A country of festivals
For such a young country, it is impressive to see how many events have already taken place despite the latent political problems and the difficulty of obtaining regular subsidies. Founded in 2008 in the wake of independence and under the patronage of British actress Vanessa Redgrave(Blow Up, Mission Impossible, Call the Midwife), the Pristina International Film Festival, or PriFilmFest, is held every summer in the capital. It's the perfect opportunity to meet the young generation of national filmmakers, while enjoying some great cinema moments. Recently, the Kosovar director Blerta Basholli won two trophies with Zgjoi or The Hive, before winning the Best Film, Best Director and Audience Award at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival. Let's also mention the Anibar festival, an event dedicated to animated films and held by a collective based in Peja/Peć, more precisely at Kinema Jusuf Gervalla. An establishment that the team has defended body and soul against demolition when real estate projects threatened this historic building.
Finally, if you are rather passionate about the cinema of the real, it is in Prizren that you will have to go for the Dokufest, the national grand-messe of documentary and short film, which is held there in mid-August. Like Anibar, this event is supported by an association of committed citizens. It takes place in the Kino Lumbardhi, a former cinema converted into a neighborhood house. A cultural place that reflects the dynamism of the initiatives that populate Kosovo today.
