PriFest reveals its juries for its 10th edition

Just a few days before the start of its 10th edition, PriFest has reveals its juries. In this edition, PriFest will have 8 juries in total for all the competitive film programs.

Just like in the previous editions, PriFest will bring to Prishtina remarkable names from international, european and regional cinematography, who together with juries’ participants from the students’ and media world, will evaluate the competitive films of the festival.

In the main film program, the “Honey and Blood” program, the jury will be comprised of Johannes Naber, a director and screenwriter from Germany, well-known for his film “Der Albaner”, a film which among others also won prizes at PriFest. Beside Johannes Naber, Hayet Benkara from France and Canada, a script and festival programs’ consultant at Toronto Film Festival, alongside Izabel Igel, a film producer from Poland, will complete the “Honey and Blood” program jury.
In the jury of the “European Film Program” this year will be Ahmet Boyacioglu, a well-known festival progammer, director and producer from Turkey, who was also in charge of the Turkish Film Stands at the Berlin and Cannes Film Festivals from 2007 to 2017. Beside Ahmet Boyacioglu, Tina Hajon, a producer and festival programmer from Croatia, and Almir Djikoli, a photography director from Bosnia & Herzegovina, will also be part of this jury.

In the jury of the documentary films are: Simon Wilkinson, expert in the field of "VR - Virtual Reality and AR - Augmented Reality" from UK, together with Ajola Xoxa, a director and a lawyer from Albania and Shkëlzen Gashi, a researcher and author from Kosovo.

PriFest remains the only festival in Kosovo in which FIPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics) sends a jury to evaluate films. This fact itself is also a prize for PriFest. This is now the third time that FIPRESCI jury is present at PriFest, and this year it consists of: Ziga Brnik (Slovenia), journalist at Večer”, “Film Magazine Ekran” and “Magazine Manager”, Rita Di Santo (Italy), journalist at “Daily Mirror”, “Morning Star” and “The Tribune” and Ingrid Beerbaum (Germany), journalist at www.weltexpress.de, “35mm radio show”, “Deutschlandradio” and “kunstundfilm.de”, three well-known film critics.

This year, PriFest has added another competitive category, that of the international student films, so an international jury has been added to the festival. The jury of the International Student Film Program consists of: Ema Ndoja, actress (Albania / Germany), Cheryl Johnson, screenwriter and director (South Africa) and Jana Wolf from the European Film Market (Germany).

Below is the full list of members of all PriFest program juries:

1. European program jury:

Ahmet Boyacioglu – director, festival programmer and producer (Turkey)
Tina Hajon - producer, festival programmer (Croatia)
Almir Djikoli – photography director (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

2. “Honey and Blood” program jury:

Johannes Naber – director and screenwriter (Germany)
Izabel Igel – producer (Poland)
Hayet Benkara - program manager of film industry (France, Canada).

3. Middle Length Film Program jury:

Norika Sefa – filmmaker (Kosovo)
Marija Perovic – director, producer, screenwriter (Montenegro)
Florenc Papas – filmmaker (Albania)

4. Documentary Film Program jury:

Ajola Xoxa - director and lawyer (Albania)
Simon Wilkinson - expert in “VR & AR” (UK)
Shkëlzen Gashi – researcher, author (Kosovo)

5. International Student Film Program jury:

Ema Ndoja - actress (Albania/Germany)
Cheryl Johnson – screenwriter, director (South Africa)
Jana Wolf - Europan Film Market (Germany)

6. FIPRESCI jury

Ziga Brnik - film critic, journalist, editor (Slovenia)
Rita Di Santo - film critic, historian (Italy)
Ingrid Beerbaum - PR, journalist, film critic (Germany)

7. Independent Jury of Kosovo students (for the Middle Length Program)

Dardania Kajdomqaj - student of AAB COLLEGE in the department of Massive Communication/ Production (Kosovo)
Ulpiana Maloku - student of dramaturgy, screenwriter (Kosovo)
Gentrit Syla - student of ‘Film Directing and TV” (Kosovo)

8. Media’s jury

Kozeta Kurti –journalist, moderator (Albania)
Ilir Ajdini – journalist, writer, playwright, translator (Kosovo)
Majlinda Aliu - journalist (Kosovo)