Cinema of Kosovo
Cinematography in Kosovo in the Albanian language began its activities after the foundation of Kosovafilm, which produced short films, documentaries, cartoons and later feature films. Since 2008, the central authority for cinematography in Kosovo is though there are numerous independent film companies active in Kosovo. Before Kosovafilm, there were no fully Kosovan films.
History
Early beginning
Some of the earliest films shot on modern-day territory of Kosovo are Oduzimanje oružja od Arnauta and Dule-hanu na putu za Prizren, which were screened in Vračar in 1912.One of the notable Yugoslav films from the interwar period was Kroz naše Kosovo, shot in 1932. The movie was produced by the Yugoslav Ministry of Health in order to promote the importance of good hygienic habits.
By 1937 on the territory of modern-day Kosovo, there were seven operating cinemas. There was one per town, located in Pristina, Prizren, Kosovska Mitrovica, Gnjilane, Uroševac, Đakovica, and Peć. Cinematography in the former Yugoslavia after World War II was developed in accordance with the criteria of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia. Every republic in SFR Yugoslavia had centres of cinematography, so Kosovo not being a republic had access to these centres only through Belgrade to participate in documentary film production, artistic play and education framework for cinematography. With the formation of the cultural centre began Albanian-language cinematography in Kosovo. The first artistic film was realised in 1955, Esalon doktora M. but the first movie in Albanian was Uka i Bjeshkeve te Nemura. This film is about Uka, who is an old Albanian that lives in the mountains on the border of Yugoslavia and Albania. As an honorable man, he must deal with his son who befriended Italian fascists during World War II. Era dhe lisi is the first completely Kosovan production movie.
Kosovafilm industry
The Kosovo film industry dates from the 1970s. On 20 February 1969, the parliament of Kosovo established Kosovafilm, a state institution for the production, distribution and showing of films. Its initial director was the actor Abdurrahman Shala, followed by writer and noted poet Azem Shkreli, under whose direction the most successful films were produced. Subsequent directors of Kosovafilm were Xhevar Qorraj, Ekrem Kryeziu and Gani Mehmetaj. After producing seventeen feature films, numerous short films and documentaries, the institution was taken over by the Serbian authorities in 1990 and dissolved. Kosovafilm was reestablished after Yugoslav withdrawal from the region in June 1999 and has since been endeavoring to revive the film industry in Kosovo.Kosovafilm produced eight feature films in BCS, mostly partisan war films, many of which were in collaboration with Filmske Novosti and Avala Film of Belgrade. Its first Albanian-language production was the film Kur pranvera vonohet, premiered on 12 July 1979 and was directed by Ekrem Kryeziu and was based on Fadil Hoxha's partisan diary. Perhaps the best known, and last of the nine Albanian-language feature films of the period, was Rojet e mjegulles, premiered on 15 June 1988. It was also directed by lsa Qosja and starred Xhevat Qorraj, Enver Petrovci, Florie Siarina and Cun Lajçi.
Some of the films produced by Kosovafilm are:
| Film | Director | Year |
| Isa Qosja | 2005 | |
| Isa Qosja | 1988 | |
| Emin Halili | 1986 | |
| Agim Sopi | 1984 | |
| Isa Qosja | 1984 | |
| Ismail Ymeri | 1982 | |
| Besim Sahatçiu | 1981 | |
| Ekrem Kryeziu | 1980 | |
| Besim Sahatçiu | 1980 | |
| Ekrem Kryeziu | 1980 | |
| Ekrem Kryeziu | 1979 | |
| Isa Qosja | 1979 | |
| Era dhe lisi | Besim Sahatçiu | 1979 |
| Ekrem Kryeziu | 1978 | |
| , Gani Bobi | 1977 | |
| 1976 | ||
| Besim Sahatçiu | 1976 | |
| Besim Sahatçiu | 1975 | |
| Ekrem Kryeziu | 1975 | |
| Ekrem Kryeziu | 1975 | |
| Ekrem Kryeziu | 1974 | |
| Miomir 'Miki' Stamenkovic | 1968 |
Modern cinematography
is public film fund and central authority for cinematography. Its objective is achieving goals on public interest on cinematography issues. It became a member of the pan-European organization –European Film Promotion. This decision was taken at the General Assembly of this organisation and it was announced in 2012. Kosovo became the 33rd member of this network organisation. In 2014 Kosovo Cinematography Center got accepted at the “Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences” that organizes the ceremony of “Oscar” awards. Kosovo has participated in different international film festivals such as: Berlin International Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, Monterrey international film festival, Melbourne International Film Festival, Abu Dhabi Film Festival, Winterthur Film Festival, Thessaloniki International Film Festival, Warsaw International Film Festival etc. It has also won prizes in many of them. The latest prize winners are: Arta Dobroshi at Shooting Stars Award in 2013, at Sundance Film Festival in 2012, at Abu Dhabi Film Festival in 2011 etc.United States have donated the money and built one of the largest film studio in Europe, located in the suburbs of Prishtina. Recent movies produced in the studio and other productions as well, have often tried to emphasize that Albanians have always lived on the territory.
Featured figures
was born on 1 June 1936 in Sarajevo. He was an ethnic Albanian and his family moved to the Kosovo region, where, as a 20-year-old amateur boxer and manual worker. His big break was the 1967 film I Even Met Happy Gypsies, a subtle portrayal of Roma life which won two awards in Cannes and was nominated for an Oscar. In 1974 Fehmiu appeared in the title role The Adventures of Ulysses, with Irene Papas as Penelope, and in John Frankenheimer's Black Sunday he played a Palestinian terrorist alongside Robert Shaw and Marthe Keller.The New York Times dubbed him the "Yugoslav heart-throb" for his youthful conquests and acquaintances with the likes of Brigitte Bardot and Ava Gardner. Decades after his last appearance on the screen, readers of a leading Italian women's magazine voted him one of the ten most attractive men of the 20th century. He committed suicide in his Belgrade apartment on 15 June 2010. According to his last wish, Bekim Fehmiu's ashes were scattered across the river Bistrica near his hometown of Prizren.
Faruk Begolli was the most famous Kosovo Albanian actor and director in Yugoslavia. He attended high school in Pristina and completed the academy of film in Belgrade. Begolli played in more than 60 films, starting with Veljko Bulajić's Pogled u zenicu Sunca. He cooperated with director Puriša Đorđević in his films Podne, Jutro, and San. In the late 1980s, Begolli returned from Belgrade to Kosovo, where he worked at the University of Pristina as a professor at the Faculty of Drama. His last lead role was in Ekrem Kryeziu's Dashuria e Bjeshkeve te Nemuna, and his last piece was Etjet e Kosoves, where he was also a co-scenarist. He died in 2007, after a long battle with cancer.
Arta Dobroshi is famous with her role in the screen drama Lorna’s Silence. This young actress achieved her international breakthrough and a nomination for the 2008 European Film Awards. Born in Pristina, she has played many stage roles in her country, as well as a leading role in the prize-winning German-Albanian production Magic Eye, a film about the situation in Albania in 1997, when it was rocked by unrest. She starred in these movies:, , , , , .
Kosovo film festivals
- Dokufest
- Pristina film festival
- Anibar International Animation Festival
Dokufest