“DokuFesti” opens the Short Film Forum with eight projects

“DokuFest” is now a regional address for documentary and short films. For almost a quarter of a century, in addition to serving as an example of a phenomenon of activism and cultural products, in recent years it has also transformed into a nursery for young filmmakers. This year, it crosses another border with the Short Film Forum. 

The selected projects for the first edition of the regional platform for co-creation and presentation that supports short films from the Balkans have now been announced. 

The International Documentary and Short Film Festival will begin with an online session on July 25 to continue with the physical program in Prizren from August 4 to 6, 2025, during the 24th edition of “DokuFest”. The festival has announced that 8 projects from Kosovo, North Macedonia and Albania have been selected for this edition, bringing a wide range of stories from different genres: animation, documentary, fiction, hybrid and experimental. 

“The forum as an idea has been present since 2015, but without a stable financial support it was impossible to start,” Eroll Bilibani, head of “DokuLab”, is quoted as saying. According to Bilibani, one of the main obstacles was the non-acceptance of Kosovo in the “Media” program of “Creative Europe”. 

"This made it almost impossible to create a sustainable platform that supports new voices from Kosovo and offers opportunities for regional co-creation with short films. With the long-term support of the Swedish Embassy and the Ministry of Culture, we are launching this important regional initiative for Balkan cinema," he said. According to Bilibani, they have long followed the Nordic model for cooperation and support of short films and this model has inspired them. 

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“We definitely hope to bring this spirit to the Balkans. I am also grateful for the collaboration with Jing Haase, who has been with us since the beginning, and with Martijn te Pas, who will mentor the selected teams,” he is quoted as saying. The forum will be moderated by Jing Haase, a curator and short film expert with over 20 years of experience in the industry. According to DokuFest, she previously worked at Nordisk Panorama and the Swedish Film Institute, with a focus on international distribution of short films. It has also been announced that the participating teams will be mentored by Martijn te Pas, a former programmer at IDFA, with experience in documentary development, festival consulting and presentation strategies for filmmakers.

The projects selected from Kosovo are “Crow Funeral” directed by Durim Klaiq, “I Still Haven't Cried” directed by Flaka Kokolli, “Soundtrack of a People: Boom” directed by Fjolla Muharrem and “Who Is Singing?” directed by Ana Morina. From North Macedonia, “Soil” directed by Kiril Karakas and “Sveti antun pustinjak” directed by Antonio Dimovski have been selected. As for the projects from Albania, part of the program will be “Until the Sun Sets” directed by Gledis Bica and “Discobox” directed by Romina Ruda. In this edition, Scotland is the guest. There are three film projects in post-production, shot in Kosovo during the “Breaking Borders” residency program with the support of “British Council Collaborative Grants” that will be presented at the Forum.

Selected projects benefit from seminars, mentoring, and opportunities to receive monetary awards, including film distribution or other prizes. 

"It is a platform dedicated to filmmakers from Kosovo, Albania and North Macedonia, that is, in countries with which Kosovo has bilateral agreements for co-production, offering them the opportunity to propose their film projects and the opportunity to co-produce. So the culture of co-production of feature films should also be for co-production of short films. Short films in the region are mainly financed from only one source, which are film funds," Bilibani explained in February of this year on the eve of the opening of the call.

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This year's edition of the Festival will feature 99 films in seven competition categories selected from nearly three thousand five hundred applications from all over the world. As for this section, records are broken every year, but the unbreakable one is "DokuFesti", which promises innovation, a unique program centered on films with authentic and current themes from all over the world. In what has been the main category of the festival since the last edition, the one for local films this year includes the films "Pesë stinët e çeşmërës sime" by Besim Ugzmajli, the film "Ndera" by Endrit Qarolli, "Ben's Birthday" by Robert Deçani, the film "Në parajsën socialiste (Nuk bie shi)" by Ermela Teli and "The Rabbit is Dead" by Hanis Bagashov. 

Also competing for the main prize this year are the films: “I had white cotton in my yard, I fed it, I watered it” by Endi Tupja and Klodiana Millona, ​​“Hyjnesha në fron” by Durim Klaiqi, “Mos parko” by Zana Radogoshi, “Fluturat” by Astrit Ismaili, “SOS” by Anita Morina, “Mua bësë më pëdoj portreti” by Alban Muja, “Fatbardha” by Kitty Kentezi and “Mama Klorin” by Doreida Xhogu. The festival theme is expected to be launched in the first days of this month.