Let It Be program comes with 4 world premieres

We proudly present the 'Let It Be' program, our unique film category dedicated to films with LGBTIQ subjects.

This year comes with 6 films of different length and 4 World Premieres.

"Let it Be Program, created in 2012 is very important for PriFest, because of the subject of films and the strong message that it delivers to the audience by supporting the LGBTIQ community and raising awareness through cinema.

We started collaboration for this program in partnership with OutFest in LA, and later expanded with another partner, Queer and Migration IFF (QMIFF) in Amsterdam.

Our program is carefully curated by the programmers of these two partner festivals" said PriFest director, Vjosa Berisha.

This year's LetItBe program comes in collaboration with QMIFF and a two-year project ‘Youth Artivists for Change’ supported by the Dutch Government. Line-up consists of  4 documentaries produced by Kosovan filmmakers with the support of the ‘Impact Your Doc’ grant given by the project. These four films will be shown as World Premieres in PriFest this edition.

Full line-up of the LetItBe program:

1. SILENT VOICE by Reka Valerik,
France/ Belgium, 51 min

Premiere.

Khavaj fled Chechnya when his brother discovered his homosexuality and promised to kill him.
In Brussels, struck by mutism, he is forced to live in total anonymity to escape the Chechnyan diaspora.

2. MARCH FOR DIGNITY by John Eames,
Georgia, 74 min.

Premiere.

Feature documentary March for Dignity follows a small group of LGBTI+ activists in Tbilisi, Georgia as they attempt to conduct the first Pride march in the country.
They face overwhelming opposition from far-right groups, the government and the Georgian Orthodox Church who have a history of inciting violent attacks on the LGBTI+ community.
With membership of the European Union, and anti-Russian sentiment firmly on the political agenda, Georgians are at a turning point in history where they must choose to fight for progress and human rights, or concede to greater Russian influence. In the midst of this geopolitical turmoil, the committed organisers of Tbilisi Pride bravely strive to be visible in their evolving country.

3. FREE AT LAST by Arlind Islami,
Kosovo/ Netherlands, 13 min.

World Premiere

Platon Muja and Arton Hoxha are rehearsing for their drag show. Arton tries to kiss Platon during the rehearsals but Platon refuses.
Platon tells Arton that he has a girlfriend and warns him to not do another scene like this. Aida asks Platon to draw her a tattoo.
Platon tells her to go check some sketches and decide which one she wants to make.
As Aida goes through the sketches, she suddenly sees a poster about the Drag show.
She hides the poster and then tells Platon that she wants to draw a snake. In the Drag show Platon and Arton are dancing and Aida is also there enjoying the show.
Arton kisses Platon and Platon slaps Arton. Platon leaves the show. Platon is tied around his body with bandages and looks straight through the camera.
There are parallel scenes mixed with outside scenes as he is walking and then he confronts a passerby.
Aida saves Platon from that thug and she says she loves him no matter what. Platon tears away the bandages and finally he is free.

4. THROUGH THE HAZE by Valmir Krasniqi,
Kosovo/ Netherlands, 25min.

World Premiere.

A young actor prepares for his stage dancing performance 'Through the Haze', which is an experimental Drag Queen performance.
The goal of the performance is to portray the intolerance of the society in Kosovo, but also the glory and beauty of the final transformation into his real self,
a Drag Queen. Being a straight male, and having only basic information about the problems and challenges that the LGBTI community face in Kosovo,
the actor goes on to spend more time with them. The interview done with a Drag Queen will reveal a society full of prejudice.
The real story that has been told in the beginning of the film has affected the performance and the final results have been performed in front of the audience.

5.MIRROR by Alma Çoçaj,
Kosovo/ Netherlands, 18 min.

World Premiere.

Agon 21 years old, who lives and studies in Prishtine, wants to share his love journey with the world.
The love that he finds in his environment, by constantly contributing in society and its problems, being a queer in Kosovo he found his way to create an organisation called “Hyjneshat” which represents the culture of Drag Queens.
They travel around the Balkan region, to share this culture with everyone. During the show in Albania, Agon find his love, who comes to visit Agon in Kosovo,
and meets the other members of “Hyjneshat”. They also read the poetries from Agons book called “Mirror”.

6. HOW, WHERE AND WHEN by Armend Zeqiri,
Kosovo/ Netherlands, 22 min.

World Premiere.

How, Where and When aims to show all the difficulties and vicissitudes that the LGBT community in Kosovo goes through to have a date.
The film has 4 different stories by different generations and all those stories have shown all types of meetings, fears, emotions, indecisions, webs and applications that are used for dating.

The 13th edition of PriFest will be held from 24-29 of August.

#prifest13 #LetItBe #friendship #forever