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By:
Besarte Elshani
- 12 May 2025 08:00
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The ten minutes of the project, written and directed by Alban Muja, are a documentation and reflection of the fate of human life in the hands of the enemy. At the same time, the power of art. This story will be told at “Vienna Shorts” and at the Short Film Festival in Hamburg. It is Skënder Muja’s story that will be heard at these two festivals. In Hamburg it is part of the international competition, while in Vienna it will be part of the thematic program “When Will They Ever Learn?”.
At two prestigious short film festivals, Alban Muja's "I Believe My Portrait Saved Me" tells a fragment of a story about the survival and resistance of the people of Kosovo during the war. The ten minutes of the project, written and directed by Muja, are a documentation and reflection of the fate of human life in the hands of the enemy. At the same time, the power of art. This story will be told at "Vienna Shorts" and at the Hamburg Short Film Festival.
It is Skënder Muja's story that will be heard at these two festivals. In Hamburg it is part of the international competition, while in Vienna it will be part of the thematic program "When Will They Ever Learn?".
The event is real and encompasses the history of the country itself. The film's author, Alban Muja, said that, above all, it is important to reveal Kosovo's past to a foreign audience.
"As in these two festivals, and in the others where the film will be screened, our main goal remains the same: for the film to be seen, and through it to share our past as a society with sensitive and respectful film audiences," Muja said in a written response to KOHĪN.
The film premiered at the 75th edition of the famous Berlinale film festival, which was held from February 13 to 23. It was shown as part of the “Forum Expand” program at the Berlin International Film Festival. It was then screened at the 17th edition of the international short film festival “Go Short”, which was held from April 2 to 6 in the city of Nijmegen, Netherlands.
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"After the 'Berlinale' and 'Go Short' in the Netherlands, we are invited to two important short film festivals. In Vienna, our film is part of a curatorial program that deals with a sensitive topic, as we believe the film itself is. While in Hamburg we are part of the official international competition", said artist and director Alban Muja.
He announced that the film crew will be at both festivals where there will also be conversations with attendees and the media.
At the 41st edition of the Hamburg Short Film Festival, the film "I Believe the Portrait Saved Me" will be screened on June 5, at 21:39 PM, at the "ZEISE 2" cinema and the following day at the "B-MOVIE" cinema, from 16:30 PM.
The Hamburg festival runs this year from June 3 to 8. It is one of the most popular and important short film festivals in Europe and, in addition to films, also includes exhibitions, performance works, concerts and discussions.
"The Hamburg Short Film Festival has been showing more than 400 films every year that react to the world in ways that are loud and brilliant, quiet and poetic, wild and calm. In this way, the selected programs present the entire range of bold, experimental and artistic films. Filmmakers, the industry and the public celebrate short films together," the Festival's presentation reads.
Meanwhile, in the Austrian capital, “Vienna Shorts” will be shown at the “Metro” cinema on May 31st, from 18:30 PM. The 22nd edition of the festival will be held from May 27th to June 1st. It has been held in a similar period, i.e. late May and early June, every year since 2004.
According to records, it screens up to 350 short films from around the world each year in four competitive categories, as well as curated programs. It is a qualifying festival for, among others, the British Academy Film Awards, the European Film Awards, and the Academy Awards.
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"We consider life and cinema to be inextricably linked - as a result of time, experience and attitude, always to be questioned and celebrated, as well as aware of the past, present and future, not to be forgotten," reads the festival's presentation, which comes as a statement by the director of "Vienna Shorts", Daniel Hadenius-Ebner.
The film “I Believe My Portrait Saved Me” tells a story of survival. But essentially, the protagonist of the short film, written and directed by Alban Muja, tells how art saved his life – simply by practicing his profession on a day when the painter fell into the hands of Serbian forces.
The film is described as a powerful exploration of creativity and a tool for resilience in the face of extraordinary challenges. It is the authentic account of Skënder Muja, the film director's father, who tells how they were detained in a school in Skenderaj by Serbian forces. The protagonist in the film recounts how he was forced to draw a portrait of the commander in charge of that makeshift prison and believes that that portrait may have saved his life.
In January of this year, when the participation of the film "I Believe..." in the "Berlinale" was confirmed, Muja explained the content.
"The film is about an event that happened 25 years ago, during the war in 1999. It is a family event, as the main narrator is my father, the painter Skënder Muja, who in the film tells a story of survival. In the last chaotic months of the war, my father and many Albanian men from Mitrovica, after walking for a week, were caught while trying to leave Kosovo," Muja said in an interview with KOHĖN.
He confessed that he himself had been threatened with this danger.
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"Actually, I was there too, but I managed to escape. Before being sent to the Smrekonica prison, they were detained in a school at the entrance to Skenderaj, which had been turned into a detention center," Muja said.
"I believe I saved the portrait" was produced by the studio "038STUDIO" in Prishtina, in co-production with "AsfaltFilms" from Amsterdam and supported by the Cinematographic Center of Kosovo.
