The Thirteenth Edition…
From June 1 to June 5, 2026, the DEA OPEN AIR International Film Festival will hold its thirteenth edition in the capital city, once again transforming Tirana into an open space of artistic dialogue, where cinema meets the  audience beneath the city’s open sky.

After a tradition already established within the Albanian cultural scene and a consolidated international trajectory, DEA OPEN AIR returns this year under the motto “Open Sky. Open Minds!”, placing at the center of its program the power of cinema to build bridges of communication between cultures, generations, and different ways of perceiving the world.
This year as well, the festival remains faithful to its OPEN AIR concept, offering the unique experience of collective film viewing in open spaces, where art, the city, and the audience create a direct and vibrant relationship. The official opening ceremony and the main evenings of the Feature Film Competition will take place at DEA OPEN AIR Cinema 1 – the Amphitheatre of the University of Arts or, in case of unfavorable weather conditions, at the Concert Hall of the University of Arts.
The competitive programs of the Short Film and Student Film sections, as well as part of the Feature Film screenings, will take place at DEA OPEN AIR Cinema 2 – the “Kujtim Spahivogli” Experimental Theatre Hall, creating a dynamic landscape of screenings and artistic encounters throughout the five
days of the festival.
In competition for the DEA Awards, the preselection committees have decided to include a total of 40 films from 25 countries around the world in this year’s program, of which 7 compete in the Feature Film Section, the festival’s main competition, 15 in the Short Film Section, and 18 in the Student Film Section.

This year’s main competition brings together 7 feature films from different countries and cinematic traditions, including Turkey, Poland, the Netherlands, Kyrgyzstan, Italy, Spain, Finland, China, Hong Kong, and the United States. The Feature Film Program presents works that explore social tensions, identity, technology, memory, and human relationships through diverse artistic and stylistic approaches.

In the Short Film Section, 15 films from Europe, Asia, and Latin America have been selected, reflecting the thematic and aesthetic diversity of contemporary short cinema – from intimate dramas and social reflections to narrative and visual experimentation.

The Student Film Program brings together 18 films by young filmmakers from Albania, Kosovo, Spain, Portugal, Lebanon, Iran, Brazil, Hong Kong, the United States, Germany, Egypt, and other countries, demonstrating the creative vitality of the new generation of filmmakers and the importance of
film schools as laboratories of ideas and new artistic forms.
All participants applied through the FilmFreeway and Festhome platforms or directly through the Festival’s official submission channels.

Applicants come not only from European countries, but also from beyond, giving the selection process – as in previous editions – an intercontinental geographical scope.
The submitted films and participating filmmakers first underwent a preliminary selection process conducted by international selection committees, completed at the end of March.

The 13th edition of DEA OPEN AIR aims not only to present films in competition, but also to create an international space for communication among filmmakers, students, critics, scholars, and audiences. Throughout the festival, professional meetings, discussions, and activities fostering cultural exchange and reflection on contemporary developments in cinema will take place.
The Awards Gala Evening and the official closing ceremony of the festival will be held on June 5, 2026, concluding five days of screenings, encounters, and artistic experiences that establish DEA OPEN AIR as one of the most important cultural and cinematic events in Albania.

Within the framework of DEA Academy, a central place in this year’s program will be dedicated to the collaboration with the students of the Department of Film and Television Directing at the University of Prishtina, Faculty of Arts – Prishtina/Kosovo. In the spirit of artistic exchange and creative dialogue among young artists of the region, the participating students will engage throughout the festival days in a practical audiovisual creativity laboratory focused on the city of Tirana and the emotional relationship between the artist and urban space.
Organized into working groups, the students will develop and produce several short films under the theme “Tirana – My Love”, exploring through the camera the atmosphere, rhythm, memory, architecture, everyday life, and human dimension of the Albanian capital. The project aims not only to
provide practical experience in filming, editing, and narrative construction under intensive production conditions, but also to create a new artistic perspective on Tirana, seen through the sensitivity and vision of young filmmakers.
Throughout the festival, the students will work on location, conducting interviews, observations, and filming scenes in different parts of the city, effectively transforming Tirana itself into an active character within their cinematic narratives. This initiative seeks to build a bridge of communication
between the city, cinema, and the new generation of authors, while encouraging reflection on urban identity, collective memory, and contemporary forms of audiovisual storytelling.

The films created within the framework of this project will be presented during the festival’s closing evening, at the Awards Gala of the 13th edition of DEA OPEN AIR. In front of participating artists, international filmmakers, industry representatives, and the attending audience, these works will stand
as testimony to the students’ creative energy and the potential of regional artistic collaboration, offering an intimate, poetic, and contemporary portrait of Tirana.
The 13th edition of the DEA OPEN AIR International Film Festival is held with the support of the Municipality of Tirana, the National Center of Cinematography, the Ministry of Economy, Culture and Innovation of the Republic of Albania, and the University of Arts, institutions that help create the welcoming atmosphere necessary for artistic contributions and civic participation from around the world.
Cinema professionals, directors of several European film festivals, actors, filmmakers, producers, industry representatives, critics, scholars, and invited journalists bring to the event the vitality and multidimensional communication that cinema has always promised and fulfilled.

Press Office
DEA OPEN AIR