Frank Dohmann

Head of the Jury

Prof. Frank Döhmann, film producer and filmmaker, has been professor of film production at the KHM since 2001.

In 1978 he founded the company Dr Muschnik Film & Theater Production. In the 1980s Frank Döhmann worked as a production manager, in the 1990s as a line producer on numerous national and international cinema and TV productions for the production companies Tag/Traum, Geißendörfer Film, Gerhard Schmidt Films, Cologne Film, Gemini Film, Gruppe 5 and Columbia Tristar Film Production.

Frank Döhmann was the managing director of Colonia Media Köln from 1998 to 2004, at Studio Hamburg Production in 2005, at Nova film and Nostro Film from 2006 to 2009 as well as at Badlands Film from 2009 to 2013. Collaborations with the directors C. Bould, C. Donner, T.C. Fischer, M. Glasner, D. Graf, O. Hirschbiegel, A. Kleinert, L. Kraume, S. Macartney, M. von Trotta among others.

Chema Gonzalez

Member of the jury

Chema González is a curator and researcher. He has explored the relationships between contemporary art and the moving image and has carried out extensive audiovisual programming in the field of film essays, experimental cinema and auteur cinema. As axes in this work: recovering silenced views that rewrite the histories of cinema, connecting film practice with a committed political and theoretical space and understanding cinema as a determining art to transform our construction of the world. Since 2012,  he is head of cultural and audiovisual activities at the Reina Sofía Museum, an institution in which, together with cinema, he develops a broad and transversal program of critical debate. Among the recent cycles, Possible Futures stand out. Cinema and worlds to come (2021), Guy Debord and René Viénet, from Lettrism to Situationism (with Manuel Asín, 2020), The Last Godard. Images after the implosion (2020), Nothing happens, everything changes. Retrospective by Chantal Akerman (2019) and Sarah Maldoror. Poet and filmmaker of blackness, in collaboration with Documenta Madrid (2019).

Ylli Pepo

Member of the Jury

Ylli Pepo (born in 1948) is a director, screenwriter, and producer in the field of film and television. This year marks 55 years since his first film (“even we are soldiers”, 1969), produced by Kinostudio “Shqipëria e Re”.   During his long career, he has worked on all genres, from feature films to various features, TV series and dozens of documentaries, some of which have been awarded prizes at many international festivals such as in Milan, Sofia, Minsk, Yakutsk, etc. He is a Founding Member of the Union of Mediterranean Televisions and TELESEE Network as well as chairman and member of several international film festivals such as Prix Italia, Eco Film Festival in Ohrid, Dubrovnik, etc.

Marco Morini

Member of the Jury

Marco Morini is an Italian composer. After finishing high school, he studied as an orchestra director in Bologna, Italy, where he graduated in 1999. Morini has composed music for many feature films and theater performances. He is known for the music of the films Plakat nelzya (2022), Kruty 1918 (2019) and Plakat nelzya (2022).

Naser Shatrolli

Member of the Jury

Naser Shatrolli, has finished his undergraduate and postgraduate studies at the Faculty of Arts at the University of Pristina, majoring in Dramaturgy and Theater Directing. There are over 35 theater shows performed in the theaters of Kosovo, North Macedonia, Albania and the USA. It has been awarded prizes at regional and international theater and film festivals. He is a theater critic and curator in the field of visual arts. He was the director of the National Theater of Kosovo.

Ismail Kasuni

Head of the Jury

Ismail Kasumi was born in Kumanovo, North Macedonia. In 2013 he graduated at State University of Tetovo, Macedonia department of Academy of Dramatic Arts & Acting. Afterwards, he pursued his master’s studies at University of Pristina, Kosovo, where in 2018 he obtained the Master Degree in Academy of Art – Acting, Film & TV. Ismail has played many roles in different Movies, Theater Plays, TV shows, commercials, etc. )

Branka Bešević Gajić

Member of the Jury

Branka Bešević Gajić is a Serbian and Croatian Award-winning Film &TV Director, Creative Producer, Screenwriter, Doctor of Arts. She is a member of the European Film Academy based in Berlin. In 2014 she debuted as director and screenwriter of film “Laus”, a film about the life of famous Yugoslav actor Zarko Lausevic. After a successful premiere at Sava Center in Belgade, the film was widely distributed in Serbia as well as in Balkan region, followed by screenings at series of festivals all over the world, where it won numerous awards for directing, artistic contribution and courage of the author.

Blerdi Malushi

Member of the Jury

Blerdi Malushi is a director and producer from Kosovo, born in 1980 in Gjakova and currently residing in Prishtina. He is known for his work in short films and documentaries. His projects have been showcased at numerous renowned film festivals across Europe and globally, receiving various awards and recognitions. Among his major achievements is the Best Director award at the “Young Albanian Filmmakers Festival” in New York for his film “Acropolis.” His films have been part of prestigious festivals such as Wiesbaden Film Festival, TIFF, and the 9/11 Festival. At Skena Up, he was honored with the Special Mention for Cinematography award. Since 2018, hi is a lecturer at the University of Prishtina, in the Film Directing and Production Program.

Andia Xhunga

Member of the Jury

Andia Xhunga is an Albanian director, actress and producer. He was born in Tirana. He graduated from the Academy of Arts in 2004 in directing. Since 2008, she has been an actress at the “Aleksandër Moisiu” theater in Durrës. He has staged many shows such as “Tag”, “Tot Family”, “Love at any Cost”, “Andy Norman and Sophie”, “Three Women, Three Divorces and a House”, “Casanova Babies”, etc. She has been active as an actress in film and theater. Known for participating in the comic series Radio Radio (2010) and the film Femrat (2013). From her roles in the theater, the German stewardess in the show Boeing Boeing stands out.

Alida Cenaj

Head of the Jury

Alida Cenaj graduated in Journalism at the University of Tirana. For more than two decades she has worked in the main written and audiovisual national media, and counts important collaborations with national and international organizations. She started her journalistic career in the written media in 1996 and since then she has written hundreds of articles on social, political and cultural topics, published in newspapers, magazines and various media projects, both inside and outside the country. She has also had important commitments as an author and screenwriter in television shows and documentary films. For years now, she has been engaged as a Communication and Public Relations Expert in international projects and various institutions.

Anila Basha

Member of the Jury

Anila Basha graduated in Journalism at the Faculty of History-Philology in 1999 and then pursued a Master’s in European Studies at the University of Tirana. She started working as a journalist in the newspapers “Intervista”, “Dita Informacion” and then as an editor in “Koha Jonë”. In 2000, she was in charge of several newspapers such as “Koha Jonë” and “Panorama”, editor-in-chief and director of “Gazeta Shqiptare”, for more than 10 years. She is the co-founder of Shqiptarja.com print and online. In 2016, he also founded Newsbomb.al and Newsport.al. Her activity as a journalist has always been followed by numerous specializations inside and outside the country, in important institutions of the European Union, or even training as a journalist on NATO issues. In March 2022, the first woman member was elected to the Executive Committee of the Albanian Football Federation in the history of Albanian football.

Edi Oga

Member of the Jury

Edi Oga is an Albanian media personality, gaining reputation from a number of TV and radio shows he wrote and hosted. Some of the most popular shows include: “Kutia e fundit”, “Makine me dy timone”, “Elixir”, “Klanifornia”, “Për vete”. He is one of the most liked and shared Facebook influencers, with his private profile. For many years he has been a columnist in important news portals. As a renowned “cinephile”, he frequently participates in on line forums discussing movies and TV series. Edi Oga interests include also marketing. In years, he was involved with innumerous events of marketing, such as copywriting and promotion campaigns.

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