Echoes Of Choice

Echoes Of Choice

Fri 13 9 | 18:15 Kino REX

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Hana E Re
A Short Trip
The Future Is Better Comrade
And The Wind Weeps

Hana E Re

A trip of four best friends leads to self-discovery and growth as they unveil fears and truths about each other.

Jehona Berisha, born in Peja, Kosovo in 1995, is a talented film director who holds a bachelor's degree in film directing from the University of Pristina and a master's degree from Tirana University. With nine short films under her belt, Jehona has also worked as an assistant director on several award-winning films, including "HIVE".

Director

Jehona Berisha

Duration

9 min

Language

OV Albanian | German

Genre

Short, fiction

Cast

Blerta Ismaili, Rozafa Qelaj, Era Balaj, Qendresa Jashari

Country

Kosovo

Year

2023

Distributor

Radiator IP Sales

A Short Trip

Klodi and Mira, a young Albanian couple, decide to marry Mira to a Frenchman for 5 years in exchange for money, in order to obtain the French nationality. They will then have to choose the right husband for her, and learn to detach themselves from each other.

Erenik studied at the Academy of Arts, Tirana where he graduated with a Master degree in Film Directing. His thesis was Seed Money, a short film written by Jim Uhls (Fight Club). He has participated in the Sarajevo Talent Campus as a Screenwriter, where he developed the short script Reverse which was produced a year later for the Sarajevo City of Film. Reverse collected awards for best film at the Drama ISFF and Cinematic Achievement award at Thessaloniki ISFF. In 2013 he wrote and directed the short film Alphonso that was screened in festivals such as Vancouver International Film Festival and Brussels ISFF.
His next short film Bon Appétit was nominated for Méliès D’Argent at Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival, selected as one of the Best European Short Films at the Haapsalu Horror and Fantasy Film Festival, and has been selected at South East European Film Festival.

His last short film The Van opened in Cannes' Official Competition for Short Films in 2019 and is now travelling around the globe with more than 50 selections to date, including Sarajevo, Melbourne, Valladolid, Tangiers and Clermont-Ferrand.

His films showcase the inner struggles of the characters as they confront with the socio-political space they inhabit, ultimately coming down to unsettling decisions that define them as comic, tragic or grotesque portraits of society.

Erenik currently lives and works in Tirana, Albania. He's currently writing his first feature film.

Trailer

Director

Erenik Beqiri

Duration

17 min

Language

OV Albanian | German

Genre

Short, Drama

Cast:

Luàna Bajrami, Tristan Halilaj, Arben Bajraktaraj, Walid Afkir

Country

France

Year

2023

Distributor

Origine Films

The Future Is Better Comrade

Village women from Kosova share their life stories and abandoned dreams. Behind thick walls, silence and years of longing for school, the voices of these mothers, grandmothers and workers weave an intimate portrait of overlooked realities.

Blerta Haziraj (1994) is a researcher and film director based in Prishtina. Her artistic practice focuses on the archives of feminist literature in Kosova which she interprets artistically through experimental films, exhibitions, fanzines, and other forms of production. She has directed three short films, highlighting the lives of women in the rural areas of Kosova: 'How I Failed Documenting Male Gaze' (2021), 'Your Eyes and Hands Must be Seen Everywhere' (2022), and 'The Future is Better, Comrade' as part of her exhibition ATO in Autostrada Biennale (2023) where she presented her archival research of the Women's Antifascist Front of Kosova. Blerta is the co-founder of Pyke Bookshop and Pyke-Presje, a research collective that produces experimental artistic publications in Prizren and organizes exhibitions, workshops, and discursive programs by researching local histories and people’s movements through archives. She is the winner of the Prince Claus Fund, Seed Award, 2023.

Director

Blerta Haziraj

Duration

14 min

Language

OV Albanian| German

Genre

Documentary, Short

Country

Kosovo

Year

2023

Distributor

Film director

And The Wind Weeps

Daut, a survivor of a massacre in the Kosovo war where his son was killed, has been rehearsing a letter for 20 years on what he will say if Hague ever calls him to testify for the horrors he has seen that day.
The burden of memories gets heavier when he gets the news that his brother died of an illness, making Daut the only last survivor to remember the event.
His mind starts to fail him on important details of the testimony.
He might never bring justice for his son. For his brother. For his friends. Will the dead forgive him for giving up and being handed over to oblivion?

Aulona Selmani - born in 1997 in Binningen, Switzerland. Aulona grew up in Kosova where she started writing short stories and poems at the age of eight. In 2015 she began to study film at the University of Prishtina. During this time she also worked as a freelancer in the local film industry. In June 2023, she graduated with a Master's degree in directing from the Zurich University of the Arts.
She has done 9 short films in total, including «Pariah State», «Si Në Vaj» and «And The Wind Weeps». «Si Në Vaj» has won prizes in Gässli Film Festival, Prifest as well as Tirana Film Fest, and «And The Wind Weeps» has had its world premiere in San Sebastian and is currently on its festival tour. Aulona is now working on her first feature film «Serra» (WT) produced by Langfilm.

Trailer

Director

Aulona Selmani

Duration

25 min

Language

OV Albanian | German

Genre

Short, fiction

Cast

Bislim Muçaj, Kumrije Hoxha, Armend Smajli, Afrim Muçaj

Country

Switzerland

Year

2023

Distributor

Zürcher Hochschule der Künste ZHdK - Departement Darstellende Künste und Film