JURY & AWARDS

Blerta Zeqiri

Blerta Zeqiri is a Kosovar film director with over two decades of experience in the film industry. Since 2012, she has been a member of the European Film Academy, and she has been honored by the French state as a Chevalier de'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. Her films have traveled widely on the international festival circuit, earning recognition and awards along the way. Her short film "Kthimi (The Return)" was the first Kosovar film ever selected for the Sundance Film Festival — one of the world's leading film festivals founded by Robert Redford — where it won the main award in 2012.

Blerta also directed Kosovo&amp's first film to address LGBT rights. Her feature film & Martesa (The Marriage) ; was warmly received by both international critics and local cinema audiences.

In 2023, she was appointed Director of the Kosovo Cinematography Center for a four-year term, where she continues to work on supporting and promoting the country's film industry.

Haig Zacharian

Hajg Zaharian is a composer and a Merited Artist. He graduated in composition from the University of Arts (then the Higher Institute of Arts) in 1974. After a period in the amateur artistic movement, he worked as a teacher at the art school in Durrës and at the University of Arts in Tirana, where he also headed the department of theory and composition. His creativity includes songs, vocal and instrumental works, orchestral pieces, stage productions, and film music. Zaharian collaborated on 27 films with well-known filmmakers from the "New Albania" Film Studio. Among his most prominent works are the soundtracks for the films "Dollia e dasmës sime" (1978), "Njeriu i mirë" (1982), "Dora e ngrohtë" (1983), and "Taulanti kërkon një motër" (1984). His extensive body of work made him one of the most prominent names in Albanian music, especially as a film composer.

Bogdan Mureșanu

With a career in literature and advertising, he began writing screenplays after winning the HBO competition at the Toronto Film Festival with the project "The Human Torch". He made his directorial debut with "Half Shaved" (2013), which won awards and premiered at numerous festivals. While directing other short films, he continued writing scripts for other feature films. He premiered his first film at the last Venice Film Festival, where he received two awards.

Filmography: "El año nuevo que nunca llegó" (2024, D'A 2025); "The Merry-Go-Round" (short film, 2020); "The Christmas Gift" (short film, 2018); "Spid" (short film, 2016); "Negruzzi 14" (short film, 2016); "Half Shaved" (short film, 2013).

Rajmonda Bulku

Rajmonda Bulku is one of the most renowned actresses in Albanian cinema and theatre. After graduating with a degree in acting from the Higher Institute of Arts in Tirana, she went on to star in dozens of films and theatrical productions. Her most notable film credits include "Zonja nga Qyteti", "Nusja dhe Shtetrrethimi", "Ballë për Ballë", "Të Papriturat", "Vdekja e Kalit", "Tirana, Viti Zero", and "Amsterdam Express". Throughout her long and illustrious career, Bulku has remained a prominent figure in the Albanian performing arts.

Ylljet Aliçka

Ylljet Aliçka (born in 1951) is an Albanian writer and diplomat who has served as Albania's Ambassador to France, Monaco, Portugal and UNESCO. He is currently a member of the General Assembly of the Council of Albanian Ambassadors.

He graduated in Natural Sciences and worked as a teacher before joining the Delegation of the European Union in Tirana as a Communication Officer and later pursuing a diplomatic career. He has published collections of short stories and novels, as well as screenplays based on his books, including "Slogans", a French-Albanian film awarded at the Cannes Film Festival and winner of the Golden Prize at the Tokyo International Film Festival in 2011. His other works include "The Albanian Chronicle" (2006) and "The Expatriates" (2007). His books have been published in French, Polish, Czech, Norwegian, Italian and English.

Erenik Beqiri

Erenik Beqiri studied at the Academy of Arts, Tirana, where he graduated with a master's degree in film directing. His last short film, "THE VAN" (2019), was part of the official competition in the 72nd edition of the Cannes Film Festival and was Oscar shortlisted in 2021. He is developing his first feature film project, "AFTER DARK", which was part of Résidence du Festival de Cannes, Torino Film Lab, Meditalents, Jerusalem Film Lab and Sarajevo's Cinelink 2023. His latest short film, "A SHORT TRIP" (2023), has been selected for the Orizzonti Shorts at Venice IFF 2023.

Virgjil Muçi

Virgjil Muçi was born in 1963 in Tirana and is one of the prominent figures in Albanian literature and diplomacy. He has built a rich career as an author, contributing to the development of contemporary Albanian literature through his original works. In addition to his literary work, Muçi has also distinguished himself as a translator, bringing important works of world literature into Albanian, making them accessible to the Albanian public, and contributing to the enrichment of the country's cultural heritage. His work extends beyond literature, as Virgjil Muçi has also served as a diplomat, representing Albania on the international stage and contributing to the strengthening of relations with other countries. His dedication to these fields has made him a respected figure who has left a significant mark on the country's cultural and institutional life.

Harvey Ascott

With over 20 years of experience across UK advertising and film, Harvey has produced high-end commercials and long-form projects for international clients, agencies, and talent. Alongside this, he has spent more than a decade working in Kosovo, helping to shape the country's 30% cash rebate framework while contributing to the growth of its production industry. Bringing together international production standards and deep local expertise, Harvey understands what global productions need and how to deliver efficiently, transparently, and seamlessly within the territory.

Esat Teliti

Esat Teliti is an Albanian filmmaker, producer, and former actor. After graduating from the Academy of Fine Arts in 1972 with a degree in drama, he began working at Radio Televizioni Shqiptar, where he contributed to the production of numerous documentaries and short films. In 1974, he co-hosted the Festivali Kombëtar i Këngës alongside Arta Dade. Since October 2003, Teliti has served as artistic director and frequent contributor for the "Pasqyra Shqiptare" TV show, a weekly program in the Albanian language broadcast by OMNI 1 Television in Toronto for the Albanian diaspora in Canada.

Fabrizio Bellomo

Fabrizio Bellomo (1982, Bari) is a multidisciplinary artist working across film, installation, and visual art. He participated in the 38th, 39th, and 41st Torino Film Festival, winning the Special Jury Prize. His projects "Villaggio Cavatrulli" and "Abito Mari" were presented at the Venice Architecture Biennale (2018, 2025). His work has been exhibited internationally at MACRO Rome, Triennale di Milano, Scuderie del Quirinale, Fondazione Pino Pascali, Festival dei Popoli, Cinemed Montpellier, Tirana Art Lab, and IIC Tokyo, among others. Collaborating with institutions such as Fondazione Forma, Apulia Film Commission, and Galleria Continua, his works are included in the collections of MuFoCo, ICCD, Museo Archeologico di Fano, and Nctm e l'Arte. Recent solo exhibitions include "Abito Mari" (GOCAT, Tirana, 2025), "'Nziembru" (Fondazione Elpis, Milan, 2024), and "Meccanicismo" (KCB, Belgrade, 2018).

Përparim Kabo

Professor Dr. Përparim Kabo is a prominent figure in academic life, known both nationally and internationally. With over four decades of experience in higher education, he is a lecturer in philosophy, anthropology, and art criticism. His publications include "Anthropology Without a System — The Albanian Phenomenon Between Psychology and Propaganda", "Authoritarianism in Transition — Albanian Anthropology Through Globalisms", "Sound — Why Prometheus Is Still Not at Peace", "Epistolate — The Anthropology of the Spirit", and "The Anthropology of Art", a two-volume, approximately 1,600-page work considered a foundational study of Albanian and international art and artists. His writings have been published in several European countries. He has served on juries at international festivals in Albania and Norway. He is also the author of plays and documentary screenplays and has been awarded the "Alexander the Great" Gold Medal in Greece and the UNESCO Medal.

Agron Mesi

Agron Mesi is an Albanian visual artist, art scholar, and university lecturer. He graduated in Fine Arts in Tirana and earned a PhD in Ethnology in 2018 with a study of Albanian material culture and Eastern and Western influences.

Since 2018, he has been a researcher at the Centre for Art Studies of the Academy of Sciences of Albania, while continuing his academic work. His research focuses on Albanian visual art and culture, modernisation, urban transformations, and the relationship between art, ideology, and society.

He is the author of the monograph "Ideological Design of Albania's Urban Modernisation" (2021) and co-author of "100 Years of the Nude" (2026). As an artist, he works across painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, illustration, and animated film. His work has been presented in national and international exhibitions, and he has received several awards.

Rikarda Nova Nenshati

Rikarda Nova Nenshati was born in Shkodra in 1965 and graduated in Monumental Fine Arts from the Higher Institute of Arts in Tirana in 1987. She is a multidisciplinary artist working in painting, animated film, directing, animation, and illustration.

As a director and painter, she has created several animated short films, including "The Devil's Game", "The Woodcutter's Ballad", and "The Island", which have been screened at international festivals in Greece, Germany, Spain, Portugal, and the United States.

As a painter, she is known for a distinctive, expressive, and energetic style that combines colour and form with a conceptual approach. Nova has exhibited and taken part in art colonies in Albania and abroad, including Kosovo, North Macedonia, and Romania, as well as in the national exhibitions Pranver Art and Plein Air. Her work reflects a personal and contemporary visual language shaped by her experience in both painting and animation.

Ilir Kaso

Ilir Kaso was born in Përmet in 1982 and graduated in Graphic Arts from the Academy of Arts in Tirana in 2005. His multimedia practice encompasses drawing, painting, photography, video art, animation and installation, exploring the relationships between reality and imagination, memory and time, and nature and culture. His work has been exhibited at international institutions and venues, including MuCEM in Marseille, the Ludwig Museum in Budapest, the Pino Pascali Museum and the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rijeka, as well as art spaces in Berlin, Venice, Athens, Basel and Tirana. He has received several national and international awards.

Since 2005, Kaso has taught at the University of Arts in Tirana. In 2020, he founded Trekëndor, a space dedicated to education through contemporary art and the development of new teaching methodologies.