PRIFEST TO OPEN WITH THE PREMIERE OF ‘VERA DREAMS OF THE SEA’

The Kosovar film ‘Vera dreams of the sea’ directed by Kaltrina Krasniqi is the film that will open the 14th edition of PriFest.

'Vera dreams of the sea' had its world premiere last year at the Venice International Film Festival, and has already been successfully screened at 20 festivals around the world in official competition winning 8 major awards, including Best Picture at the prestigious Tokyo International Film Festival.

"- It has become a tradition to open PriFest with a film premiere from Kosovo. We are very glad to bring to the Kosovar audience this year the film that we promoted in last year's edition, while preparing for Venice IFF and it was also part of best pitch at PriFest. Promoting and supporting our films and filmmakers is one of the main objectives of the festival, so we are very happy that again this year we have a premiere of a film from Kosovo, especially of a Kosovar debut director, like Kaltrina Krasniqi. The New Wave of Kosovar cinema is continuing, and we are proud supporters of it "- said Vjosa Berisha, general director of PriFest.

The film 'Vera dreams of the sea' elaborates a very important topic related to property issues and women's property rights.

Vera is a middle-aged sign language interpreter, who leads a well-structured life: a wife to a renowned judge, a supportive mother, and a caring grandmother. Her serenity is disrupted by her husband's unexpected suicide followed by an unwelcome, menacing parade of relatives who claim to have ownership over their village family house. When the tendrils of an underworld scheme begin to surface, Vera’s world will face danger and seem ready to collapse. Fear and mistrust will force Vera to take the family’s fate into her own hands. Steeped into an ominous atmosphere, VERA DREAMS OF THE SEA is an intimate yet universal portrait of a woman who must face the raw reality of going against the deeply seated gender issues that prevail in our times.

The film 'Vera dreams of the sea' is a co-production between Kosovo, North Macedonia and Albania. Director: Kaltrina Krasniqi, screenwriter: Doruntina Basha, producer: Shkumbin Istrefi, co-producers: Ognen Antov, Dionis Papadhimitri, Kaltrina Krasniqi. Director of photography: Sevdije Kastrati. Editing: Vladimir Pavlovski, Kaltrina Krasniqi. Music: Petrit Ceku, Genc Salihu. In the main roles: Teuta Jegeni Ajdini, Alketa Sylaj, Refet Abazi, Astrit Kabashi.

PriFest marks the 14th edition this year and will be held on 26-31 July.